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Testimony of Peter Montagueon behalf of

The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance,Central Jersey Chapter

November 27, 2006Trenton, N.J.

My name is Peter Montague. I live at 153 Nichol Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I am here today representing the Central Jersey Chapter of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is a statewide interracial coalition of groups and individuals concerned with (a) the fair and equitable treatment of people of color and people with low income and (b) their meaningful involvement in decisions that affect their lives.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify today on the important subject of toxic chemical exposures of New Jersey residents, especially children.

The bill you are considering (S2261/A3529) is exceedingly narrow in scope and, as written, would improve the lives of relatively few children and even fewer adults in N.J. by reducing their exposures to toxic chemicals in a day-care setting.

But the general problem you are considering -- toxic chemical exposures of residents of New Jersey -- is a major public health problem. As we shall see, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) estimates that routine non-occupational toxic exposures are causing about 4100 new cases of cancer among New Jersey residents each year and many thousands more illnesses.

It is important to acknowledge that New Jersey is the No. 1 state in the nation for new cases of cancer each year.[1]

DEP also estimates that 92% of New Jersey's newborn children have been exposed to toxic methyl mercury in the womb each year. Of these, DEP estimates, somewhere between 11,000 and 24,000 infants are exposed at levels high enough to negatively affect their brain development.[2]

We therefore ask you to consider the much broader problem of toxic chemical exposures as you deliberate about the narrow (though urgent) problem of protecting children and adults in a day-care setting.

We would like you to consider the following points:

1. The DEP lists 16,000 contaminated sites in N.J. (Appendix 43, pg. 121 of this testimony.) An estimated 200 to 300 new sites are reportedly added to the list each month. (Appendix 42, pg. 117 of this testimony.)

2. We know from newspaper articles that developers in New Jersey have gotten into a habit of building homes and recreational facilities on old landfills and other contaminated sites. (See Appendices 1-17, pages 11 through 50 of this testimony.) It seems clear that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has gotten into a habit of enabling the construction of homes and other buildings on and near contaminated sites. This is not protective of public health.

3. From a cursory perusal of newspaper articles, we know that homes in New Jersey are routinely discovered to be contaminated with toxic chemicals. (See Appendices 18-39, pages 51 through 111 of this testimony -- and these are just the instances that have been written up recently in newspapers.)

4. We know from newspaper articles that top DEP officials have described the DEP site remediation program as dysfunctional, unable to even keep an accurate list of sites or to prioritize them, much less to clean them up. Many sites reportedly stay on the list for years without being cleaned up. (Appendix 42, pg. 117 of this testimony.)

Former DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell told the Bergen Record that the DEP site remediation program was in complete disarray, unable to even keep a tally of toxic sites, much less clean them up: "The DEP's professional staff was so overwhelmed, he said, that it was impossible to even pinpoint the number of contaminated sites and accurately chart the agency's progress in dealing with them," the Bergen Record reported him saying in an interview. (Appendix 41, pg. 114 of this testimony.)

When the Kidde Kollege fiasco came to light this summer, the DEP had only 175 "case managers" assigned to the 16,000 toxic sites, for an average of 91 sites per case manager. One former DEP case manager, Thomas McKee, recalled having close to 100 cases assigned to him for supervision in the early 1990s. A dysfunctional bureaucracy further hampered his work, he said. "Deadlines for cleanup progress are not enforced; there is no priority system and no real tracking and reporting system," McKee told Alexander Lane of the Newark Star- Ledger. (Appendix 42, pg. 117 of this testimony.)

5. We also know from newspaper articles that DEP case managers of toxic sites have reported being pressured by DEP officials to cut corners and issue "no further action" letters for sites that have not been adequately cleaned up. (Appendix 42, pg. 117 of this testimony.)

On August 27 Alexander Lane of the Newark Star-Ledger revealed a DEP secret that no one had ever talked about in print before: "One current [DEP] case manager spoke openly about the political pressure brought to bear for the agency to cut corners. One current case manager, Amil Singh, said heavy caseloads account for the notoriously low morale in the site remediation department.

"But he also said the department was plagued by a less tangible problem: political pressure.

"It is particularly intense when a redevelopment project or real estate transaction at a contaminated site is being held up pending a 'no further action' letter -- a certification that a cleanup is complete -- from the department, he said.

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"'There's a lot of pressure on the case managers to take certain actions in order to appease the local governments and make property move,' Singh said. 'I've been pressured to produce NFAs (no further action letters) by my own [DEP] management,'" Singh said.

6. Children spend more time in their homes than they do in day-care. Yet S2261/A3529 does not presently pertain to protecting children from toxic exposures in their homes.

7. But the problem of toxic exposures of residents of New Jersey is far larger than even these facts reveal.

Indoor air is not the only source of exposures to toxic chemicals for children and adults in New Jersey.

If you focus your attention exclusively on day-care facilities, or even on day-care facilities and homes, you are missing the major public health problem caused by routine toxic exposures in New Jersey.

8. N.J. residents are routinely exposed to dozens or hundreds of toxic chemicals.

Because many of these toxic exposures are concentrated in urban areas, this means that people of color and people of low income are being disproportionately impacted by these toxic exposures. This is unfair, unjust and entirely avoidable.

In March, 2003, the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published the Final Report of the New Jersey Comparative Risk Project.[2] The project had spent four years studying environmental problems in New Jersey. The project steering committee was chaired by Daniel Rubenstein of Princeton University and by Sheryl Telford of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.

The Final Report includes Appendix 4, a 369-page catalog of toxic exposures in New Jersey.[3] So far as we know, the information in that report has never been fully discussed and evaluated by the legislature. Perhaps the publicity engendered by the Kidde Kollege fiasco offers an opportunity to begin to grapple with this major public health problem.

Here are excerpts from the DEP's partial catalog of toxic exposures reported in 2003.

1,3 BUTADIENE

1,3 Butadiene -- a known human carcinogen -- the entire population of New Jersey is exposed at low levels, the DEP report says.

ACROLEIN

People in urban areas of N.J. are exposed to acrolein at levels as high as 20 times the EPA "safe" dose. Children exposed to acrolein may have increased respiratory illnesses, the DEP report says.

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BENZENE

Benzene is a known human carcinogen. Across N.J., exposures range from 1 to 342 times the one-on-a-million cancer danger level.

CADMIUM

An estimated 80,000 citizens each year (1% of the state's population) may be developing "adverse health effects" from current exposures to the toxic metal cadmium, says the DEP report.

DIOXINS

Dioxins arise from burning garbage, coal, and oil. Everyone in N.J. is considered to be exposed about equally to dioxins, and current exposures "may be in the range to observe health impacts," the DEP report says. Dioxins are known to degrade the human immune system, interfere with sexual development, and cause cancer.

WATER DISINFECTANT BYPRODUCTS

Chlorinating drinking water in N.J. is thought to be causing 40 to 350 bladder cancers, 2 neural tube birth defects, and 200 miscarriages each year. Disinfection byproducts are also associated with colorectal, brain, and kidney cancers, DEP notes without providing a numerical estimate.

ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS

"Individuals exposed during sensitive stages of development may experience permanent developmental deficits whose degree may range from mild to severe," says the DEP report. And: "Virtually everyone has been exposed to some degree."

"While recognition of the potential for ED effects is increasing, many substances with potential ED effects continue to be released into the environment and levels of population exposure may increase as background levels in the environment increase," says the DEP report.

FORMALDEHYDE

"Formaldehyde is a pervasive pollutant, therefore all New Jersey citizens are exposed." And: "Formaldehyde affects lung function and raises the susceptibility toward infection.... Related to its effects on lung function, formaldehyde may be an important contributor to the onset of asthma," says the DEP report.

Without providing a numerical estimate, DEP points out that formaldehyde is considered a probable human carcinogen.

LEAD

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So far as we know, the State of New Jersey collects, but does not publish, data on the number of children who have 5 micrograns of lead in each deciliter of blood, so the following data are national. It seems likely that New Jersey children might fare worse than the national average because of the age of New Jersey's urban housing stock.

26% of U.S. children ages 1-6 have blood lead greater than 5 micrograms/deciliter,[4] which is 300 times as high as the natural background level of lead in blood.[5]

In a study of 4,853 children, math and reading test scores declined with blood- lead levels as low as 2.5 micrograms/deciliter.[6]

19% of white children have blood lead greater than 5 micrograms/deciliter.[5]

28% of Hispanic children have blood lead greater than 5 micrograms/deciliter.[5]

47% of black children have blood lead greater than 5 micrograms/deciliter.[5]

Thus, roughly half of all African-American children have enough lead in their blood to reduce their math and reading scores.

Furthermore, "There are persuasive reasons to believe that cognitive dysfunction may not be the most important effect of lead, and that we may be entering a fifth stage of understanding of lead's effects, in which lead is recognized to adversely affect social behavior," meaning attention deficits, aggression, delinquency, and violent crime.[7]

MERCURY

An estimated 92% of N.J. children are exposed to methyl mercury in the womb, says the DEP report.

"For women of child bearing age/pregnant women in NJ, 10-21% are estimated to be exposed above the RfD [reference dose, set by federal EPA, also known as the 'safe' dose] intended to be protective against neurologic developmental effects of the fetus in utero.

This means somewhere between 11,000 and 24,000 infants each year in N.J. are exposed to mercury at levels thought to harm their brain development.

MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether)

In an air monitoring program in Camden, MTBE was found in 29 out of 31 samples (94%) with a mean concentration of 1.29 ppb which is roughly twice (1.8 times) the EPA reference ('safe') concentration.

NICKEL

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"Because of the ubiquitous nature of nickel and its use in everyday household items and consumer products, the statewide population is exposed on a daily basis," says the DEP report.

"Chronic (long-term) respiratory effects such as asthma and an increased risk of chronic respiratory tract infections in humans have been associated with exposure to nickel."

NITROGEN OXIDES (NOx)

"The total population of New Jersey is exposed to significant levels of NO2," says the DEP report.

"Children are susceptible to NOx and its effects on immune systems. Asthmatics are also susceptible to low level exposures," says the DEP report.

The federal standard for NO2 is an annual average of 0.053 ppm; NJ has its own standard -- an annual average of 0.05.

"...some individual studies suggest effects in children as low as 0.015 ppm [one-third of the allowable average in N.J.]. The most noticeable and reproduced impacts observed at low levels are the susceptibility to respiratory disease (such as cold and flu symptoms)."

OZONE

"The entire population of the state has been potentially exposed to ozone concentrations above the 8-hour standard."

"Children are most at risk from exposure to ozone because they are active outside, playing and exercising, during the summertime when ozone levels are at their highest."

"Exposure to ozone can also increase susceptibility to respiratory infections."

"Thousands of studies of ozone exposure indicate that there is no minimum threshold for triggering respiratory responses and a significant proportion of hospital visits can be associated with exposure to elevated ozone levels."

FINE PARTICLES (SOOT)

"[We] estimate... approximately 500 to 1000 premature deaths per year in NJ due to PM 2.5 [fine particles]."

"Groups most widely affected include young children, asthmatics, the elderly, smokers, and individuals with chronic lung or cardiovascular disease....

PESTICIDES IN FOOD

"There are no crops grown or food consumed that can be guaranteed completely pesticide free..."

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"There are no current NJ data available that can be used for quantification of actual exposure to pesticide residues from food grown in NJ."

"It is difficult to actually quantify the exposure level to the over 300 different pesticides used on foods.... The conclusion is that while there is much data available, there are great gaps in what is required before a valid assessment can be performed on the impacts from the presence of the myriad of pesticides."

"Infants and children have higher susceptibility to pesticide residues due to their stage of immature development and their increase in risk from pesticide exposure. Exposure to even trace levels of POPs [persistent organic pollutants] at crucial times in fetal or infant development can disrupt or damage human hormone, reproductive, neurological, or immune systems."

"Of 316 pesticides with food tolerances [numerical limits on allowable residues on foods], only 163 (52%) of them are routinely analyzed under FDA's [regulatory program]. Pesticide metabolites and breakdown products, significant or toxic inert ingredients need to be analyzed but we do not have estimates of these. No risk estimates can be done because this basic data are [sic] not available."

"All New Jersey citizens are exposed to pesticides in the food that they eat. Monitoring of food products shows that 40% of grain samples, 55% of fruits and 30% of vegetables test positive for at least some level of pesticide residues. In a few cases, these detections show concentrations of pesticides over established safety limits. There is evidence that children are more susceptible to pesticide toxicity because of rapid growth during development and the higher body burden that results when children intake levels are similar to adults."

PESTICIDES INDOORS

"[In a 1986-1988 EPA study of 32 pesticides]... Thirty commonly used household pesticides were found in house dust and yard soil.... Residues of many pesticides were found in and around the home even when there was no known use of them on the premises."

"EPA among others has serious concerns about the chronic impacts of low doses especially on the endocrine system and reproduction, the neurological and immune systems, cognitive and behavioral systems such as learning, and memory."

PESTICIDES OUTDOORS

Total annual outdoor pesticide use in N.J.: 2,365,845 pounds (or 5 ounces for every resident of the state)

"There are more than 600 pesticides in use in New Jersey... They are designed to be toxic to target species, and in most cases create risk to humans as well," says the DEP report.

PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)

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"As many as 2000 to 2500 cases of cancer per year may be attributable to PCBs in New Jersey. This is approximately one-third to one-half of the total incidence of breast, pancreatic and non-Hodgkins lymphatic malignancies in the state. There are however significant uncertainties in these estimates. There is also evidence that pre- and post-natal exposures to PCBs may have adverse effects on neurological development."

PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)

"All New Jersey residents have been and will continue to be exposed to PAHs, however, the degree of exposure from these sources can vary greatly from region to region, with higher levels in urban areas... Children and adolescents may be at increased risk due to higher rates of metabolism."

"There are insufficient exposure data available to quantify the number of illnesses in New Jersey."

RADIUM IN WATER

"Bone sarcoma [cancer] increases have been reported in relationship to radium in drinking water in studies in Canada, Illinois, and Iowa. Because of these findings, and unknowns regarding actual tap water concentrations in many well water sites, elevated radium in some New Jersey drinking water sources is rated as an important health/public health issue for the state."

"Radium passes through mother's milk to the feeding infant; it also crosses the placenta during pregnancy, and is retained in fetal bones."

"Radium content of fish and game could be important in some populations with high consumption."

"In some areas of the state more than 50% of drinking water wells exceed health based standards."

RADON IN AIR

"The total number of lung cancers resulting from radon exposure may be as high as 1700 per year."

SECOND-HAND TOBACCO SMOKE (STS)

Health effects in N.J. attributable to STS exposures:

Otitis media (middle ear infections): 14,000-32,000 cases/yr

Asthma exacerbation: 8,000-20,000 cases/yr

Bronchitis and pneumonia: 3,000-6,000 cases/yr

New asthma cases: 160-520 cases/yr

Ischemic heart disease: 700-1240 deaths/yr

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Low birth weight: 194-372 cases/yr

Lung cancer: 60-80 deaths/yr

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): 38-54 deaths/yr

Lower Respiratory Tract Illness (LRI) in children up to 18 months: 2-4 deaths/yr

9. It seems clear from this very limited DEP catalog of chemical exposures in New Jersey that substantial numbers of innocent people are being killed each year, and many thousands more are being made sick, especially children.

10. MCLs and other numerical standards set for individual toxic chemicals are all but meaningless when people are exposed to a witch’s brew of toxicants, as is the case for all the urban residents of New Jersey. Because numerical risk assessment has no reliable way to take into account cumulative exposure to multiple toxicants (of the kind listed above), other techniques besides risk assessment should form the basis of the decision-making process. Specifically, we believe a precautionary approach should form the basis of decision regarding toxic sites:

a. All residential and school buildings should be well-ventilated with fresh, clean air. If ventilation with outside air produces toxicants inside a building, action should be mandatory to clean the outside air.

b. No buildings or recreational facilities should be built on or near old landfills or known contaminated sites; toxic sites should be cleaned with a permanent remedy, not a plastic tarp or a layer of asphalt or other temporary stopgap;

c. DEP's considerable mapping capabilities could be used to correlate known toxic sites with existing and proposed buildings, and new building could be prohibited on those sites until every reasonable effort has been made to clean the site. The air inside existing buildings should be investigated if they are known to be on a toxic site.

d. The state needs to develop standards for mold in schools and residences. The newspapers are full of stories about children and adults getting sick from exposure to mold. Here again, urban residents are at greatest risk -- and this means people of color and people of low income, predominantly.

e. The DEP should set out to identify and remove all sources of the chemicals identified by the New Jersey Cumulative Risk Project.[2]

f. DEP should thoroughly revamp its site remediation program, and the state legislature should provide additional funding, as needed, and should revise the laws that guide the DEP's site remediation program. No contaminated sites should be allowed to be covered with a plastic tarp, or a layer of asphalt, or a building, and declared "safe." No contaminated groundwater should be declared "safe" or "acceptable." Even if it cannot be cleaned, it should remain identified as a toxic problem.

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g. DEP staff should be encouraged to "blow the whistle" when they feel inappropriate pressure from supervisors or politicians to declare toxic sites "clean" or "safe" when they feel this is not true.

Contaminants in the land and water are the sources of the long list of toxic exposures presented earlier in this testimony. The stated aim of the program should be to clean those sites as thoroughly as possible, to protect public health.

11. We urge you to consider this much broader and much larger problem of exposure to toxic chemicals in New Jersey.

By all means, protect children and adults in a day-care setting. But please do not stop there.

================

[1] U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 19992002 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; 2005. Available at: www.cdc.gov/cancer/npcr/uscs. Specifically: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/uscs/Table.aspx?Group=4fa&Year=2002&Display=n

[2] http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/njcrp/

[3] http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/njcrp/Appendix4.pdf

[4] Susan M. Bernard and others, "Prevalence of Blood Lead Levels >= 5 ug/deciliter Among US Children 1 to 5 Years of Age and Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors Associated with Blood lead Levels 5 to 10 ug/deciliter, Third National health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994," Pediatrics Vol. 112, No. 6 (Dec., 2003), pgs. 1308-1313.

[5] A. Russell Flegal and Donald R. Smith, "Lead Levels in Preindustrial Humans," New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 326 (May 7, 1992), pgs. 1293-1294.

[6] Bruce Lanphear and others, "Cognitive Deficits Associated with Blood Lead Concentrations < 10 ug/deciliter in US Children and Adolescents," Public Health Reports Vol. 115 (Nov./Dec., 2000), pgs. 521-529.

[7] Herbert Needleman, "Lead Poisoning," Annual Reviews of Medicine Vol. 55 (2004), pgs. 209-222.

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The Record (Hackensack)November 24, 2004

Massive coverup

Landfill makeover a technical marvel

By Carolyn Feibel

Garbage. It's not an ideal building surface. We're talking soft, rotting tires. Hubcaps freckled with rust. Ancient refrigerators. Oily ooze. Gunk. It's ugly, it smells, it shifts and slides and leaks toxins. And a developer wants to build a verdant golf community on top of it.

EnCap Golf has spent six months digging and smashing and shaping the garbage dumps of Lyndhurst and Rutherford. In 10 years four dumps will be transformed into two golf courses, retail and hotel space, and about 2,000 condos clustered around village greens.

Abracadabra? No, just $120 million for the latest in landfill engineering. Drive east along Valley Brook Avenue in Lyndhurst and you'll see the cranes and backhoes waging war against waste. Here's how they do it:

Mash-up

To build on garbage, you need a firm surface. That means crushing it with a really heavy weight from very high up. Try 14 tons dropped from 50 feet in the air.

In Rutherford, engineers are using the weight to flatten 7 feet of garbage in a landfill off Berry's Creek, just south of the Route 3 and Route 17 junction. EnCap plans to build a "gateway" to the whole complex on this site. Workers first spread 4 feet of clean topsoil over the garbage, then brought in a crane to start the mashing.

Gravity does the work. The crane's cable hooks onto the weight, which measures 7 feet on each side. The crane operator hauls it skyward, then lets it fly. There are a few breathless seconds as the massive square sails down, then a muffled bang as it punches a 3-foot-deep hole in the soil. Shin-high shock waves roll through the dirt like ripples in a pond. The crane backs up a few feet and starts all over.

The goal is to overcome "settlement issues," said William Gauger III, president of EnCap Golf. That's landfill-speak for how garbage subsides and falls over time. This method will immediately compact the trash 25 percent, so that the ground will settle only 1 or 2 inches over the next 40 years, Gauger said.

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However, the state's leading environmentalist isn't so sure the trash will be stabilized. "It's going to continue to compress and continue to settle and cause cracks in the cap as the buildings start settling in," said Jeff Tittel, director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club.

Gauger disagrees. EnCap's parent company, Cherokee Investment Partners, specializes in redeveloping contaminated "brownfields" and has cleaned up 280 of them since 1990.

"I've heard the... concerns that the housing will fall into the swamp, but that simply isn't going to happen," Gauger said.

Cleanup

EnCap is building new ballfields for Lyndhurst on a landfill at the end of Polito Avenue. Peek behind the old Prevost bus depot, and you can see trenches dug into the garbage. The trenches are the first step in "entombing" the garbage in a safe and permanent way, said Tom Moran, the project manager.

The open trench allows a temporary glimpse into the garbage of years past. Plastic netting, rubber hoses, cables, wires, and unidentifiable plastic chunks spill from the muddy side of a trench. Near the edge, an old bowling pin has shattered into wooden splinters.

Currently, all this garbage is oozing leachate -- a dark, polluted liquid that seeps from dumps. Tests have shown the leachate contains PCBs, pesticides, and gasoline and diesel byproducts, according to Meadowlands Commission scientist Francisco Artigas.

Gauger estimated that the EnCap landfills are leaking 100 million gallons of leachate every year into the streams and wetlands of the Hackensack River.

To trap the leachate, the engineers are walling off the garbage with interlocking vinyl panels. The barrier wall will be sunk 15 feet down into a layer of impermeable clay.

Inside the wall, pipes laid in the trenches collect and drain the leachate. Other pipes will collect and vent methane gases from the decomposing garbage.

But why not simply remove all the garbage?

Gauger said that would be so expensive that nobody would develop the land. Also, it's risky.

"If we actually picked it up and excavated it, it would cause so much environmental damage it wouldn't make sense," Gauger said. "This is what they do, they contain it."

Eventually, EnCap plans to build seven miles of wall and drain pipes around the garbage. The leachate will be funneled to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission.

Coverup

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In the end, more than 500 acres of garbage will disappear under a five-layer sandwich of clean fill and earth. The thickest, bottom layer will cover the garbage with up to 14 feet of dredged harbor silt, construction debris, and concrete. Another two feet of clean silt is spread over that layer to keep rain from filtering inside the garbage. Two feet of regular dirt comes next, then 6 inches of soil for grass and the sprinkler system. The golf course landscaping tops off the "cap."

Tittel, of the Sierra Club, said EnCap should at least remove the garbage underneath the proposed housing areas. He said the weight of the buildings could crack the protective layers, and hazardous gases from decomposing trash could enter the residences.

"It's not that we're opposed to building on a garbage dump," Tittel said. "But you have to do it right."

But another environmental activist, Bill Sheehan of Hackensack Riverkeeper, said he feels comfortable with the remediation techniques.

"As far as the technology is concerned, it's been thoroughly reviewed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and they issued permits," Sheehan said. "The public health and welfare is first and foremost on their mind. If they thought it was going to be a risk, they would have forced them to do something else.

"We have the experience to know that the site will be safe," said Gauger.

He said the golf village will be a "model" for brownfield redevelopment, especially given its high-profile location between New York City and Newark.

"It will completely change the front porch and front door of New Jersey."

=====================================================================

Michigan firm signs on to build EnCap homes

EnCap Golf has signed a contract with a residential developer to build almost 2,000 homes on cleaned-up garbage dumps in Lyndhurst and Rutherford.

The deal with Pulte Homes is the culmination of 18 months of negotiations, said William Gauger III, EnCap president.

"The development is going to happen," Gauger said. "I always knew because of the strategic location, the presence of a train station, the golf course, the open spaces, the land would be attractive to the home builders."

An official announcement will be made next week, Gauger said. A spokesman for Pulte Homes declined to comment on the deal. Pulte, based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., earned $617 million in 2003, according to a company Web site.

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Under the contract, Pulte would buy parcels of land from EnCap and start building as soon as each parcel is cleaned up, Gauger said. He would not disclose the financial terms of the contract but said EnCap sold the land for less than what it would cost to seal up the landfills. EnCap plans to recoup its $260 million in costs by taking a share of tax revenues from the future homes, Gauger said.

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission is reviewing the Pulte contract to check that it fulfills the terms of a developer's agreement it signed with EnCap in 2003, officials said.

"This is positive progress for EnCap," said Chris Gale, a spokesman for the Meadowlands Commission. "A strong partnership between these two companies can turn these landfills into a benefit rather than a liability for the communities where they sit."

The first area to be built will be 200 active-adult homes in Rutherford, off Berry's Creek, said Gauger. Pulte would later build about 1,780 homes and 100,000 square feet of retail space in Lyndhurst. About half of those homes could be for seniors only. Gauger said up to three of the residential buildings could be 10 to 12 stories high, but the rest would be five stories or less.

A separate developer would build a hotel and conference center in the Lyndhurst section, Gauger said, though negotiations are still ongoing. EnCap will build two golf courses on the covered landfills surrounding the residential village.

Another component still to be finalized is the developers for the so- called northern node -- a gateway complex in Rutherford that would serve as the entrance to the golf community. EnCap has already begun cleaning and flattening that section for development. Gauger said that land is zoned for office and hotel development.

=====================================================================

E-mail: feibel@northjersey.com

Copyright (c) 2004 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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Philadelphia InquirerNovember 26, 2004

From acres of trash to piles of cash

Landfills in Camden and Pennsauken would be renewed by housing and recreation, but a firm's approach has critics.

By Frank Kummer

When Thomas Darden and his Cherokee Investment Partners began scouting Camden for redevelopment projects, a landfill skirting the Delaware River caught their eye.

Where others see man-made mountains of dirty diapers, frayed newspapers and construction debris, Darden and his firm see potential profit.

In Camden, Cherokee has been chosen as developer of the $1.2 billion Cramer Hill project, a mix of 6,000 homes, 500,000 square feet of retail space, a marina and a golf course, which will be built on the 90-acre landfill.

"I believe the very first thing we looked at was that landfill," Darden said.

Cherokee also is designated developer of a $1 billion waterfront project in neighboring Pennsauken, which contains the Vineland Construction company landfill and includes Petty's Island. Like Camden, it has a great view of Philadelphia.

All across New Jersey, Cherokee and its affiliates have begun to navigate new state and federal laws aimed at transforming landfills and brownfields -- usually contaminated former industrial sites -- into valuable real estate.

As a result, Cherokee and its companies are in line for hundreds of millions in government-fostered loans, grants and tax incentives to take over and remediate landfills throughout New Jersey as part of larger redevelopment projects.

They also are paid to haul away dredge spoil that they then use to cap the landfills.

State officials say the incentives are needed to lure developers. Otherwise, landfills and brownfields would remain contaminated blights for which taxpayers might have to pick up the cleanup cost.

Darden, Cherokee's chief executive officer, said that his roots were in 1970s environmental activism and that his business took spoiled land and made it safe while earning money for investors.

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"We want to make a difference," Darden said. "We want to go places where others don't want to go."

Andy Willner, executive director of the NY-NJ Baykeeper, an environmental watchdog group, is waiting to see how successful the remediations are.

"The confluence between brownfield redevelopment and dredge disposal is certainly a niche Cherokee has taken advantage of," Willner said. "Give credit where credit is due: They've found a niche market and exploited it."

Willner said that he believed, in the end, having Cherokee assume responsibility for capping and cleaning up landfills could be worth it.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, is skeptical.

"I think, quite frankly, they are much better at playing politics than anything else," Tittel said. "If you look at the company and how they make their money, they don't build anything, clean up anything... . They just flip the property. They're like the middleman."

Cherokee-related firms and officers have contributed at least $267,600 to state legislative and political campaigns and at least $80,700 to federal candidates from New Jersey since 1999.

Tittel said merely capping landfills was not enough, especially for residents destined to live on or near them. He also would like dredge spoil and sludge kept out of the capping process.

Cherokee disagrees, saying it will spend tens of millions in cleaning landfills and their surrounding areas. It said that it would use only materials accepted as safe by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The firm and its offshoots have been designated by state and local government agencies to undertake at least five projects in New Jersey containing landfills, including those in Camden and Pennsauken. Its overall portfolio in the state has a $6 billion price tag.

Other landfill projects are in Elizabeth, Bayonne and the Meadowlands.

Darden contends that grants, tax breaks, and revenue from hauling spoil do not cover all expenses in remediating a landfill. Rather, he said, the profit comes down the road when the land and its surrounding area are deemed clean and become valuable as a result.

The company's most ambitious landfill-morphing project to date is the $1 billion-plus first phase of the Meadowlands Golf Redevelopment Project.

Cherokee affiliate EnCap Golf Holdings L.L.C. plans to transform more than 700 acres of landfills into -- among other things -- golf courses, housing and hotels.

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EnCap is now in line to receive $200 million in no-interest and low- interest loans for the project from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust. Bonds issued for the loan will be backed by EnCap, company spokesman Rich Ochab said.

The Meadowlands landfills are to be capped with layers of dredge spoil and sludge mixed with cement and clean fill. A five-mile-long pipe system will collect six billion gallons of leachate over 30 years, the company said. A separate collection system will harmlessly vent methane.

The path to wide-scale development of landfills was cleared in New Jersey a decade ago as officials began casting their eyes on the problem of redeveloping blighted areas.

Previous laws made a landfill's new owner liable for past contamination. But federal and state brownfield legislation in the 1990s reduced liability if the land was cleaned up to certain standards.

Low-interest loan and grant programs sprung up. Further, New Jersey's 1998 Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act allowed developers of brownfields to recoup as much as 75 percent of cleanup costs through tax breaks when they sold the properties.

Other laws and regulations began allowing ports to pay developers to haul dredge spoil away and dump it on landfills as a way of capping them.

The Jersey Gardens Mall project off the turnpike in Elizabeth, in which Cherokee was involved, was the first project in the state to take advantage of all the new laws. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey paid the developers $5 million to haul sludge to the site, records show.

In Camden and elsewhere, Darden said, it would be easier not to have a landfill as a component, but he sees it as a mission.

"Clearly, economically, we would be better off not taking the landfill," he said. "But that's not the deal that society, or city officials, present."

Contact staff writer Frank Kummer at 856-779-3220 or fkummer@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writer Kaitlin Gurney contributed to this article.

Copyright 2004 Philadelphia Inquirer

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FILENAME: developing_meadowlands_landfill_project.20041130.txt

The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)November 30, 2004

Golf course firm finds developer for Meadowlands landfill project

By Ana M. Alaya

A Michigan company has signed on to build almost 2,000 homes on cleaned-up landfills in Lyndhurst and Rutherford.

Jersey Meadows LLC, a subsidiary of Pulte Homes Inc., has contracted to buy land from EnCap Golf Holdings LLC, which is overseeing the $1 billion transformation of more than 700 acres of landfills and surrounding property into homes, golf courses, hotels and open space in the Meadowlands, officials announced yesterday.

"This is an historic announcement because of the importance of getting such a noted developer to be part of the project," said Bill Gauger, president of EnCap Golf Holdings of North Carolina.

"The housing is going to be dense and it's going to be a model of smart growth," Gauger said.

Under the agreement, which took 18 months to hammer out, Pulte will purchase about 75 acres for $155 million, according to Gauger.

First to go up will be 200 active-adult homes in Rutherford, off Berry's Creek, in about 2 1/2 years. The remaining 1,780 homes -- about half of them for senior citizens -- will be built in Lyndhurst in about four years. Pulte is also arranging for 100,000 square feet of retail space in Lyndhurst.

Gauger said the land is being sold for less money, about $260,000, than it will take to clean the landfills, but that EnCap intends to recoup the costs by collecting a share of tax revenues from future homes.

EnCap will use 8 million yards of dirt and sediment dredged from New York Harbor to cap six landfills and then create a stretch of green between Interchanges 15W and 16W on the New Jersey Turnpike.

After capping the landfills, EnCap plans to build four golf courses, three of them public; two hotels with a combined 750 rooms; 700,000 square feet of commercial space; 750,000 square feet of office space; and 100,000 square feet of retail space.

Securing a home builder has been the major delay in the project since EnCap's first housing developer, Charles Kushner, pulled out two years ago after conflict-of-interest issues were raised.

Pulte Homes, based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., is one of the nation's largest home builders.

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"This innovative project has the potential to bring a world-class community and approximately 2,000 new homes to an area just 30 minutes outside of New York City," said Richard D. DiBella, Northeast Area president for Pulte Homes.

Chris Gale, spokesman for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, which approved the EnCap Golf development, said the agency is reviewing the agreement between EnCap and Pulte. "This is great progress for the people at EnCap. A solid collaboration between these two businesses can turn these dumps into an asset rather than a liability for the communities," Gale said.

Some environmental officials and advocates have raised worries that methane gases from the landfills' decomposing trash could leak into basements of the new homes, or that the land could settle beneath them.

Addressing those concerns, Gauger said plans specifically call for extraordinary safety precautions and for building the homes in areas where there is only 6 to 8 feet of trash, which will be capped with 20 feet of fill.

There will also be seven miles of containment walls to stop water infiltration to the site, and 80,000 wick wells will draw groundwater from the clay and trash layers to prevent settling.

"It's the most intensive ground-improvement program ever done in the Meadowlands," Gauger said. "We're spending $25 million to make sure that the housing is on a solid foundation and importing over 8 million yards of fill material to cap the landfills."

Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger

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FILENAME: borough_objects_to_being_dumped_on.20041202.txt

Newark Star-LedgerDecember 2, 2004

Borough objects to being dumped on

By Victoria St. Martin

Middlesex Borough Mayor Ronald Dobies yesterday called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove soil that is being temporarily stored on a vacant lot in the borough.

The soil was moved to a lot on the corner of Route 28 and Prospect Place as part of the Corp's Greenbrook Flood Control Project in neighboring Bound Brook.

Dobies said he believes the soil could be contaminated because it is being removed from an area that was once a landfill.

"This is potentially hazardous material that they are dumping," Dobies said. "Now it's leaking oil and the dirt, tires, wood and paper are starting to smell ... This is a health hazard. Do you want this in your back yard?"

Borough construction official Daniel Coppola said he issued summonses to the Corps for illegally dumping soil on the lot and for maintaining a trailer without the proper permits. When he first contacted the Corps last week about his concerns, "they took a we can do what we want attitude," he said.

Joe Forcina, who manages the flood control project for the Corps, said the lot, which is co-owned by the Corps, is a temporary holding area for soil that was excavated during the creation of a ring wall under construction around an apartment complex on Route 28 and E Street in Bound Brook.

Forcina said the ring wall is a small part of a $430 million dollar project that will provide residents with protection from potential flooding in the area.

"I don't understand," he said. "It's from the ground itself and once the concrete is placed, it's going back where it came from."

Forcina said the agency transferred about three or four truckloads of soil to the borough from the ring wall construction site.

He acknowledged that the Bound Brook apartment complex was built adjacent to a capped landfill and some of the excavated soil may contain household garbage. But he said it is not hazardous.

"This is a gross mischaracterization of this material," he said. "I am a little perturbed about the hostility ... It's like biting your nose off to spite your face."

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Dobies said he identified three sites for the soil to be moved to and had an initial agreement with the agency for the soil to be removed from the lot by Tuesday. The removal date was changed to Dec. 10.

"This, I am not going to accept," he said. "We just don't want to be dumped on. We are tired of being dumped on. If you are taking it from one town it should stay in that town."

Jim Efinger, 74, whose family built his Prospect Place home in 1910, said the site is a garbage dump.

"This may be a great health hazard," he said. "It's nothing you want in your front yard. I'd go to jail if I had it in my front yard."

Forcina said he spoke Tuesday with Dobies, and assured him there will be no more material placed at the site. He said the existing soil will be moved to a park in Bound Brook.

"Where is the spirit of neighborliness?" he said. "It's a temporary holding area and this will be gone in a few days."

Peter Shugert, a spokesman for the agency, said the soil will most likely be removed before Dec. 10.

"We are working with the mayor to address his concerns," he said. "This project will protect the lives of many ... This is a necessary inconvenience."

Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger

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FILENAME: building_on_60_pct_of_landfill_is_advised.20041208.txt

Newark Star-LedgerDecember 8, 2004

Building on 60% of landfill is advised

A mix of commercial and residential is suggested in Somerville

By Joe Tyrrell

Only about 60 percent of Somerville's old landfill should be developed, and that with a mix of housing and stores, according to preliminary recommendations from a Somerset County consultant.

The report, part of a county study promoting development linked to transportation, suggests commercial areas around the borough train station parking lot and along Route 206.

"This is the opening bell" for the borough's latest effort to capitalize on the landfill property, said Mayor Brian Gallagher.

In June, the borough paid $1.5 million to Rosenshein Associates of New Rochelle, N.Y., to get out of a 1986 contract for a shopping mall that never materialized on the site.

Somerville officials are anxious to test the current market for the roughly 100- acre tract, bounded by the Raritan Valley line, Route 206 and the South Bridge Street and Washington Place neighborhoods.

The center of the site, "and specifically the parking lot around the train station, is considered a good development area," said consultant Nancy Templeton of Wallace Roberts & Todd of Philadelphia.

Wetlands and flood plains should prevent development on about 40 percent of the property, particularly its northern third and southern corner, Templeton said. Where development does occur, it should be linked to the borough's downtown by a tunnel under the railroad tracks, she said.

That would take advantage of a one-block extension of Davenport Street under another redevelopment plan, targeting the old Landmark shopping center on the other side of the tracks from the landfill. The council approved an agreement with developer Jack Morris on Monday night, which includes extending Davenport to Veterans Memorial Drive at the tracks.

By building the tunnel, Davenport could continue to the other side and become the center of a street grid mimicking the downtown, Templeton said.

"We need access to the downtown from this site," Gallagher said. "We can't create an island that you can't get to."

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Continuing the street grid would also help establish the identity of the new development, and "let people know that they're still in Somerville," he said.

While enthusiastic about some of the possibilities outlined by Templeton, council members were skeptical about others.

"I'm a little bit concerned about the discussion of a residential component," said Councilman Thompson Mitchell. "We've got to remember the lessons of Love Canal. Past studies have shown there are certain contaminants in rather high concentrations."

While the landfill ceased operations two decades ago, a final cleanup and closure has yet to be done. That's one reason why the Pcredit: Graphic: Gcredit: Infobox: Keyword: Keyname: Text: consultant's recommendations are preliminary, Gallagher said.

"Without understanding what the costs of the closure are, it will be difficult to articulate what could go where on the site," he said, noting Somerset County has given the borough $170,000 toward a closure plan.

County plans for a greenway along the nearby Raritan River and the scheduling of public events at the Duke Estate, just to the south on Route 206 in Hillsborough, increase the potential marketability of the property, Templeton said.

But because the heavily trafficked highway has just been widened, it seems counter-productive to discuss ways to slow traffic to accommodate new commercial development, said Councilman Robert Wilson.

"I'd rather see it speeded up when I'm on there," he said.

Somerset planner Kenneth Wedeen said the county wants the council's input by the end of the month as a prelude to joint efforts to present the ideas to the public.

Joe Tyrrell covers Hunterdon and Somerset counties. He can be reached at jtyrrell@starledger.com or (908) 782-8326.

Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger

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FILENAME: milford_deals_with_closed_paper_mill.20041223.txt

Newark Star-LedgerDecember 23, 2004

Milford approves its own plan for closed paper mill

By Catherine Jun

The Milford Borough Council this week adopted a redevelopment plan for an abandoned industrial site along the Delaware River, the latest move in a tussle over the site's fate with a potential developer and owner, O'Neill Properties.

The King of Prussia, Pa., developer was the highest bidder at a bankruptcy auction in June for the 123 acres owned by Curtis Specialty Papers Mill. Seventy-three acres are located in Milford, and the remainder are in Alexandria Township.

The borough's plan calls for conserving just under half of its portion and development of 31 homes, a waterfront walking trail and buildings for apartments and commercial and nonresidential uses, such as light manufacturing and recreational facilities. It also calls for converting an existing building into a new borough hall.

O'Neill's proposal has called for some similar elements, such as open spaces, recreational areas and a new municipal building. But it has diverged with the borough on its residential plans, which included building 740 one-, two-, and three-bedroom condos and townhouses, along with retail space.

A statement released by the Pennsylvania developer, Jim Savard, senior member of the development team, said: "We look forward to working with the borough for a mutually agreeable solution for the site."

The property includes a former paper mill, several buildings and a landfill that was recently added to the federal Superfund priorities list.

Before Curtis shut the Riegel paper mill in June 2003, the mill accounted for 16 percent of the borough's ratable base.

Municipal officials have hoped for a new development that would bring in some tax revenue to replace the mill. But O'Neill's plans have triggered concerns among officials about the impact of intense residential development on its school and tax structure.

O'Neill has not yet closed on its $7.5 million acquisition, said Milford's mayor, James Gallos. He said he hoped the deal would be finalized by January.

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Earlier this month, O'Neill's chairman, J. Brian O'Neill, said the company would walk away from the purchase if Milford adopted such a redevelopment plan. O'Neill was not available for comment yesterday.

The mayor said the elements in the plan are still open to discussion and possible alteration. "It's a growing document; it's not set in stone," he said.

The borough's plan divides the site as follows: 32.8 acres for conservation, 13 acres for residential development, 23.7 acres for nonresidential development, 2.8 acres for mixed use and 1.1 acre for public use.

Gallos said O'Neill representatives indicated they were willing to discuss the plan further. He planned to form a committee of council members by the end of the week that would be charged with working with potential developer for the site.

"Now we need to sit down with a developer that's interested," he said.

Gallos said the town is not limiting itself to discussions with just O'Neill. But he said the Pennsylvania company was first in line to discuss the plans with the borough, considering its planned ownership and interest until now.

"That would only be fair," he said.

Catherine Jun works in the Hunterdon County bureau. She can be reached at cjun@starledger.com or at (908) 782-8326.

Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger

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FILENAME: stafford_project_not_blocked.050312.txt

Press of Atlantic CityMarch 14, 2005

Pinelands official: Stafford project not blocked

Compromise possible for business park

By Jarrett Renshaw, (609) 978-2015

The director of the Pinelands Commission suggested this week that the building of the Stafford Business Park would most likely move ahead, despite environmental concerns regarding threatened and endangered species.

Pinelands Commission Executive Director John Stokes said protecting the land's threatened and endangered species and building the multimillion-dollar business park are not "mutually exclusive."

The comments suggest a potential compromise plan between the Pinelands Commission and Ed Walters, the developer who hopes to bring the business park to Stafford Township.

The Stafford Business Park, once developed, is expected to employ 500 people and generate $2.5 million annually in tax revenue. The proposed park is a combination of retail, residential, recreational and office space.

In 2003, Stafford's entire municipal budget was $25 million. The proposed business park covers 200 acres in town.

A Hackensack environmental firm hired by Walters conducted surveys of the property and found numerous threatened and endangered species, including a northern pine snake, the Maryland milkwort and the barred owl.

Under normal circumstances, the presence of such plants and animals would spell disaster for the project. But Walters has pledged to give Stafford Township $20 million to cap a long-defunct landfill as part of the deal to build the business park.

The landfill closed in 1982, and the township is under orders from the state Department of Environmental Protection to have it capped. Township officials have been reluctant to cap the landfill on its own since it carries with it a high price tag.

The site also features an unofficial landfill that also needs to be capped. Officials believe this landfill was used in the 1950s and 1960s as a place for contractors to dump building materials, as well as debris from the 1962 storm.

"The challenge here is how do we weigh the environmental impact of the development and the environmental benefits of capping that landfill," Stokes said.

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The northern pine snakes have found a home in the landfill and in some abandoned cars at the site. Officials noted that the reptiles would be disturbed even if the landfill were capped without the construction of the business park.

Also, it remains unclear whether an abandoned car represents natural habitat for northern pine snakes.

"I think we have to use common sense here. The cars are not a natural habitat," says Stokes.

Several local and state officials said that discussions are ongoing among the Pinelands Commission, state, county and local officials about how to address the environmental problems and allow for the development of land and the capping of the landfill.

The attorney for Walters said they are not a part of the discussion, but support any move that could lead to a compromise proposal.

"We expect to see their recommendations and move from there," said Walters' attorney Joe Del Duca.

Stokes said one of the possibilities could be to modify the land on top of the landfill to assist snake travel, but declined to offer other suggestions or a possible timeline for future decisions.

The township's Business Park Commission selected Walters' bid for the project in early February 2003 over a rival proposal from the Buffalo, N.Y.-based Benderson Development Company.

The decision came months after the Business Park Commission voided an earlier contract with New York developer Carmine Dell Aquila, saying his firm, Stafford Resort Development Company, did not move quickly enough to secure the necessary approvals.

To e-mail Jarrett Renshaw at The Press: JRenshaw@pressofac.com

Copyright 2005 South Jersey Publishing Company

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FILENAME: n.j._to_help_develop_area_port_sites.050421.txt

The Home News Tribune (East Brunswick)April 21, 2005

N.J. to help develop area port sites HN N.J. to Help Develop Brownfields in NY-NJ Port Area

Sites in Woodbridge, Carteret, Linden and Perth Amboy are among properties that could be developed through a state program aimed at ensuring economic growth of the port region. Under the Portfield Initiative, an effort of the state Economic Development Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, brownfields or under- utilized sites are identified as places for potential development, according to a news release from acting Gov. Richard J. Codey's office.

Yesterday, the state released a preliminary list of 17 sites with the potential to be developed under the program. Included were: Linden Airport and the Tremley-Point-DuPont ISP site in Linden; I-Port 12 in Carteret; the Port Reading Business Park in the Port Reading section of Woodbridge, and Chevron and the I- Port 440 site in Perth Amboy.

Through the Portfield Initiative, the state would identify sites that have the potential to attract private investment, support job creation and boost tax ratables, according to the news release.

Developers could get help with project planning and marketing, and they could also receive some financing from the state's Economic Development Authority, according to the news release.

In Perth Amboy, under the I-Port 440 redevelopment project, more than 2 million square feet of warehouse, technology, office and retail space is expected to be built on almost 200 acres near the Raritan River and the Kill Van Kull, Mayor Joseph Vas said, adding that he expects several thousand jobs to be generated by the project.

"I think this a great step forward in bringing the state and the various state departments in as partners in reclaiming the large number of Brownfield sites along the port area of New Jersey," he said of the Portfields Initiative. "The reclaiming of abandoned industrial sites along the New Jersey waterfront is really the economic future of New Jersey."

The Carteret project calls for a state-of-the-art, 1.2 million-square- foot light-industrial complex to be built on the site of landfills that were closed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The property, expected to be developed by Titan Development, fronts the Rahway River, with access to the Arthur Kill, said borough Mayor Daniel J. Reiman.

He said the borough has many properties along its waterfront, but for 100 years, major chemical plants operated on many of those sites.

"What grew Carteret in the last century is what we're trying to remediate today, and any help that the state ... would provide, is certainly something we would look at," said the mayor.

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In Woodbridge, all approvals for the business park site have been granted, and some 3.5 million square feet of warehouse space is expected to be constructed off Port Reading Avenue, near the Carteret border, according to Mayor Frank Pelzman.

Portfield Initiative sites must have at least 350,000 square feet of "competitive ocean or air freight cargo distribution building space," according to the state news release. Sites should also have access to major highways and essential utilities and local government.

Copyright (2005) Home News Tribune

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FILENAME: the_encap_mushroom.050509.txt

The Record (Hackensack)May 9, 2005

The EnCap mushroom

In Lyndhurst, the proposed EnCap development was barely on the radar screen when the last municipal election was held four years ago. As Lyndhurst residents prepare to go to the polls on Tuesday, EnCap dominates the town's political landscape, and it could radically change this South Bergen community of 19,000.Under the current Lyndhurst administration, EnCap has evolved into something vastly different from what was originally sold to local residents. Whether this will be all to the good is debatable, but the project has some disturbing aspects.

The plan has mushroomed over time, making it hard for residents to grasp its impact. It is being done by a developer very adept at the game of using big political contributions to grease the skids for the approvals and permits necessary for the project to go ahead. And the development will probably create the need for a new school that the taxpayers, not the developer, would have to pay for.

When the project was first proposed, it was pitched as a golf village built atop hundreds of acres of leaky landfills. With government aid, the developer, Cherokee EnCap, would close the landfills and build a golf resort on top, with a hotel, stores, restaurants and 1,400 units of time shares in parts of Lyndhurst, Rutherford and North Arlington.

In late 2001, when this page voiced its support for EnCap, the project was touted as a way to close the landfills and spur an ailing post-9/11 economy. The original plan had changed, with the time shares replaced by 1,400 housing units for people over 50.

These days, EnCap is still billed as a golf village, but the housing dynamics have changed even more drastically to reflect changing market conditions. Some 930 units in Lyndhurst would still be set aside for the over-50 crowd, but there would be another 850 with no age restrictions. That's quite a change in plans - especially considering the havoc that could be wreaked on local property taxes by massive new housing and a flood of new school-age children.

Despite the changes in plans, all the powers-that-be have signed off on it and are pushing it along with $250 million in low-interest loans and other tax breaks. An attorney for EnCap says that Lyndhurst could make as much as $25 million in additional revenues a year from the project.

Although there's plenty to be said for a plan that converts abandoned landfills into useful land, there's a dark side to this project. EnCap's parent, Cherokee Investment Partners of North Carolina, which has several major projects under way in New Jersey, and its affiliates have donated more than $250,000 to candidates and political parties at every level of government in the state.

The contributions have ranged from at least $6,000 to Lyndhurst Mayor James Guida and his running mates in recent years to tens of thousands of dollars to the Democratic State Committee

30

last year alone. Factor in enormous donations from attorneys in the law firm representing EnCap, the powerful DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole and Wisler, and you've got a project that a politician could fall in love with.

Although acting Governor Codey sent a letter last week saying that he was asking state Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper to expedite an investigation into the EnCap deals, he has backtracked slightly, saying that the probe would have to wait until she finishes her scrutiny of the state Schools Construction Corp., which should be completed in the next two months. Mr. Codey needs to keep his word and look into the EnCap financing arrangements.

Revitalization of the 585 acres of landfills and 200 acres of wetlands is expected to take four years, with the development in Lyndhurst to take place after that.

Two of the slates in tomorrow's election, "Lyndhurst First, Stop Overdevelopment Now" and "Independent Team to Stop Over-development" and unaffiliated candidate Joseph Abruscato have serious questions about how large this project has become and whether the town will get enough from it in the way of revenue. The third slate, "Re-elect the Guida Team," favors the status quo.

If voters want this project to get a serious reexamination, they'll have to vote for candidates on one of the two slates fighting overdevelopment.

Copyright (2005) North Jersey Media Group

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FILENAME: white_twp_landfill_closing.050715.txt

Easton (Pa.) Express-TimesJuly 15, 2005

Township discusses life after landfill HN Closing Warren County Landfill Worries White Twp.

Ponders ways to increase tax base.

By Sara Leitch

WHITE TWP. -- During a contentious three-hour meeting Thursday night, committee members voted to consider a referendum on how to handle the township's response to the closing of the Warren County landfill.

They also agreed to require more reporting from the township's road department.

White Township residents pay no taxes to fund municipal operations because the Pollution Control Financing Authority, which runs the landfill, pays the township a host community fee based on the amount of trash dumped at the landfill.

It's a lot of money.

Because the landfill accepted more garbage than originally planned in 2004, the township received about $1.4 million in fees from the authority last year. The PCFA budgeted $1.5 million in fees to White Township for 2005.

But when the landfill closes as scheduled in January 2007 those checks will stop.

The township has built up a surplus but will have to implement a municipal tax on the order of 42 cents per $100 of assessed value to cover its budget, assessor Bernard Murdoch said.

Murdoch suggested several ways the township might work to increase its tax base and reduce the burden on homeowners.

"It's going to be tough out here," he said.

Officials could rezone industrial areas to attract small businesses, and lower the amount the township keeps in reserve to cover unpaid taxes, currently 20 percent of the municipal budget.

Committeeman Bryan Vande Vrede said the township should also use Routes 519 and 46 to its advantage.

"We have two very busy roads that come through here," he said. "There's a lot of potential for small, local, convenient businesses."

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The township should also consider the effect of the Highlands legislation, Murdoch said. Parts of White Township are in the act's preservation area, where construction is strictly limited, while other areas are in the planning area where growth will be allowed.

"We may have to do an in-house reassessment," he said. "Existing lots are all going to jump up in value."

Officials could also petition the county to return the property the landfill is built on, and perhaps construct a golf course on top of it, Murdoch suggested.

"It might be difficult to get back from the county," he admitted.

Committeeman James Ashe volunteered to discuss the issue with the landfill authority.

Ashe suggested the township consider a referendum question on November's ballot allowing residents to choose whether they want to see a new municipal tax eased in over the next few years, or applied all at once when the landfill closes.

Municipal Attorney Brian Smith said he would look into it.

Also on Thursday, committee members passed a resolution requiring the municipal road department to provide regular reports on the status of roads and storm sewers, current and planned activities and the condition of equipment.

"I sat down and realized I didn't know what the road department was doing," Ashe said. "I think this information is necessary."

Roads Department head Jim Hothouse said he believes such reports were unnecessary.

"Anytime you want to know what I'm doing, just stop by my garage," he said.

Mayor Walter Menegus agreed, saying the reports would be a waste of time.

"It's going to be a full-time job," Menegus said.

The road report resolution passed with Ashe and Committeeman Bryan Vande Vrede voting in favor and Menegus voting against it.

Reporter Sara Leitch can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at sleitch@express-times.com.

Copyright 2005 The Express Times

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FILENAME: meadowlands_dump_developer_fights_taxes.050720.txt

The Record (Hackensack)July 20, 2005

EnCap says property assessments are too high

By Carolyn Feibel

Cherokee EnCap, the developer of golf courses and housing in the trash-strewn Meadowlands, is challenging the property taxes it must pay to its three host towns.

The brownfield-cleanup company has acquired 795 acres to build 2,580 houses and two golf courses in the marsh areas of Rutherford, Lyndhurst and North Arlington. This spring the company filed appeals in tax court to reduce the assessments on more than 400 acres.

The company is appealing because it paid less for the properties than tax assessors think they are worth, said EnCap spokesman Rich Ochab.

In Lyndhurst, for example, the company paid less than $6.2 million for more than 180 acres. But the town has assessed those properties for $26 million.

"Townships historically value property as if it was clean and developable," Ochab said. "We only appealed where the market value and assessed value were indeed way off."

Much of the disputed land in Lyndhurst was owned by the state and was therefore tax-exempt until EnCap took over. Now that the land is back in private hands, EnCap must pay Lyndhurst $836,000 in taxes for those lands in 2005.

EnCap is challenging assessments of more than $10 million in Rutherford and $7 million in North Arlington.

"It's really up to them to prove the assessment is incorrect," said Denis McGuire, the tax assessor for Lyndhurst and North Arlington.

McGuire said tax appeals are common. "We've just undergone appeals on a lot of the commercial office buildings down in the Meadowlands," he said. "They're not getting the rents they were years ago; the buildings are not as valuable."

For the EnCap project, the state Meadowlands Commission surveyed land and tested properties for environmental issues. "Fair market value was based on those individual reports for each property," said Chris Gale, spokesman for the Meadowlands Commission.

So far, EnCap has paid the commission $17 million to acquire parcels of land.

Rutherford Mayor Bernadette McPherson said the town's tax lawyer will defend the land values.

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"The position of the borough is that the assessment is appropriate on these properties," she said.

Residents reacted differently to the news that the company was challenging the tax rolls.

"I think they have a right to appeal," said Raul Velazquez, a homeowner in North Arlington. "I just hope at the end of the day it's fair."

He said he was more concerned about how EnCap's development would impact the town's school system. The developer has plans to clean and cover landfills and build 1,375 units in North Arlington in a later phase of development.

But Mike Guarino of Lyndhurst, a longtime political watchdog, said the tax appeal made him "irate."

"They're a bunch of thieves," he said. "Wherever they can save money, they'll save money at the expense of the taxpayer."

Ochab said EnCap has paid a total of more than $20 million in land payments and taxes to Lyndhurst and Rutherford since 2002. "You're talking about a pretty responsible corporate citizen here," he said.

In addition, Lyndhurst will get $3 million by year's end in special "payments in lieu of taxes" from the company, and Rutherford will receive almost $4 million, Ochab said.

Lyndhurst's new mayor, Richard DiLascio, said he could not comment on the tax appeals because his administration is reviewing the financial agreement EnCap struck with the previous mayor, Jim Guida.

North Arlington Mayor Russ Pitman also declined to comment because the town is negotiating a financial agreement with EnCap.

E-mail: feibel@northjersey.com

Copyright 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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FILENAME: keyport_land.051004.txt

Asbury Park PressOct. 4, 2005

Plans for Aeromarine parcel to be aired HN Opinions on Keyport's last buildable site to be aired

By Justin Vellucci, Keyport Bureau

There's no lack of opinions about Aeromarine.

But that is to be expected for Keyport's last parcel of developable land, a 62- acre bayfront site of abandoned buildings, aging industrial structures and open space that covers a decades-old landfill.

Mark S. Bellin, a developer with Century Land Group, would spend $20 million to excavate the landfill, construct public parks and build 569 town houses and luxury apartments on new, virgin soil there.

Borough Councilman Robert Bergen wants to safeguard public access to views of Raritan Bay but thinks a redevelopment plan may be the right approach.

And while resident Flo Crawford worries about how new town house residents would affect local schools, Nancy Phillip just doesn't want a mound of old landfill material dumped close to Chingarora Creek or near neighboring Union Beach.

Those opinions, and presumably several more, will be aired at 6 tonight when the Borough Council holds a public hearing in borough hall on its proposed plans for the site, named after the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Corp. that was there until 1937 and now home of the Aeromarine Industrial Park.

Those plans, introduced last month, include cleaning up the site, preserving 31 acres of open space, and restricting development to a maximum of 310 town houses and 50,000 square feet of commercial or retail businesses, said Andrew J. Provence, a redevelopment attorney working for the borough.

"A landfill site is perfect for redevelopment," Bergen said Monday. "We're seeking to redevelop that site from an old, abandoned garbage dump to one that's a productive development and community."

Mayor John J. Merla said, "I don't want to see it overdeveloped, but I don't want to see it stay the way it is, either."

But Bellin stressed development at the site, the location of about a dozen industrial businesses, is not that simple. He also wants to develop Aeromarine and feels the council's move to designate the site as a redevelopment zone strips him of his ability to do so.

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"They will have condemned our development rights without paying us anything for it," said Bellin, whose firm has spent $600,000 since 2003 working on plans to develop Aeromarine. "You can agree with me. You can disagree with me. But you can't pretend I don't exist, which is what's going on."

Century Land Group also has filed a lawsuit against the borough seeking to block its redevelopment plan.

But others seem less concerned with who develops the site than what the impact will be on those who live around it.

Flo Crawford, a real estate agent whose Walnut Terrace home sits a stone's throw from the Aeromarine property, contends any discussion of impact needs to address where parents moving into proposed town houses will send their children to school.

"I would love to see Aeromarine developed, but I'd like to see it developed where it makes sense for the whole town, not just the developers," said Crawford, 55.

Though she now lives in Union Beach, Nancy Phillip heard plenty of talk of redeveloping Aeromarine over the years when she called Keyport her home.

"I heard story after story about what that Aeromarine was going to be," said Phillip, 41, whose Ash Street home is near the site. "I didn't believe it was going to happen."

Now that plans seem more tangible, Phillip worries about increased traffic and student enrollment at Keyport High School, where Union Beach sends its students after middle school.

"I'm not opposed to them building on that property," she said. "I just don't want the garbage down on my end

Copyright 2005 Asbury Park Press

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FILENAME: stafford_dump_sealing_dev.060328.txt

The Asbury Park PressMarch 28, 2006

Dump-sealing plan's pros, cons aired

By Kirk Moore, Toms River Bureau

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP -- Apart from the Stafford Business Park, there are no more than 20 potential development sites of 1 acre or more left in Stafford. These sites would accommodate far less growth than could be realized from the proposed business park redevelopment, according to a new analysis that Stafford officials did for the state Pinelands Commission.

Key commissioners are hesitant to support a plan for closing the old Stafford landfill and building stores and up to 565 homes in the area around Recovery Road.

When the commission's public and government programs committee met here Monday night, they heard Mayor Carl W. Block report on other possibilities, from moving some future development off the business park site to scaling back the project.

And the commissioners heard pro and con arguments on the plan from Stafford residents -- some who say the plan will aggravate congestion and compromise Pinelands environmental rules, and others who contend the community has a chance to solve the landfill's environmental threat and ease local taxes.

"This landfill needs to be capped. There's no question," said John Vanwaalwijk of Stafford. "It's an opportunity that we as taxpayers and residents of this town can't afford to lose."

"The landfill needs to be capped, I agree," said Dr. Melinda Boyle, an emergency room physician at Southern Ocean County Hospital. But it should not be done by compromising Pinelands environmental standards, she said.

The Walters Group, Barnegat-based developers, would pay for the landfill closing costs in exchange for the opportunity to redevelop the business park. In addition to building mostly age-restricted homes, the company would erect more than half a million square feet of retail and commercial buildings, and Stafford residents would benefit from those tax ratables, project supporters say.

The township's landfill closed in 1983, but it and other buried trash pits dating back decades are still leaching pollutants into ground water and Mill Creek, including lead, mercury and other chemical traces, said Larry Liggett, the Pinelands Commission's planning chief.

Excavating 1 million cubic yards of soil during the landfill closure would destroy two denning areas used by northern pine snakes, a threatened species in New Jersey whose habitat the Pinelands Commission is obligated to preserve. But project advocates contend the snakes and other rare

38

species can safely be moved, and their disruption would be worth the environmental benefits from sealing the landfill.

Environmental groups oppose the project as designed. Critics call the Stafford proposal a potential precedent.

"To some extent I agree, and I think that's a positive aspect," said John Stokes, who heads the commission staff.

Almost 40 landfills like Stafford's were shut down in the Pinelands more than 20 years ago, but still have not been properly sealed, Stokes told the commissioners.

"This sends a signal that the commission is intent on closing those landfills," he said.

That doesn't mean "plopping huge developments down throughout the Pinelands" to finance closures, Stokes added. But not doing it in Stafford's case could make other towns and dump owners feel no obligation to cap their landfills, he said.

Pinelands officials asked Block to research potential options for reducing redevelopment density at the park, including looking at acreage elsewhere in town. There are still 440 scattered quarter-acre lots in the sprawling Ocean Acres development, but less than two dozen tracts between 1 and 3 acres on ground that doesn't have environmental constraints, Block said.

Stafford officials and the Walters Group also presented some broad conceptual options to show how the project would look if it was cut back to preserve more wooded land on the tract.

Kirk Moore: (732) 557-5728

Copyright 2006 Asbury Park Press.

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FILENAME: dump_2sanctuary_baykeeper.060705.txt

Independent (Holmdel)July 5, 2006

One man's garbage is another man's treasure

NY/NJ Baykeeper urges government to find room for nature at ex-dump

By Karen E. Bowes, Staff Writer

It's not easy being green, especially in Central Jersey, where sometimes the only open space left is the result of long-abandoned garbage dumps.

Andy Willner, executive director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, points to the old Aeromarine property as a perfect example of a dump worth saving.

The Aeromarine Plane & Motor Co., a once-busy aircraft manufacturing plant, opened shop in 1917, supplying training planes to the Navy during World War I and boasting many of aviation's early innovations.

Aeromarine Airways, the country's first international commercial airline, was established on the site. The first in-flight meals, stewards and baggage tickets were utilized by Aeromarine. Many early aviation speed records were broken on the Aeromarine landing strip, and at its peak, the company's engineering department was considered one of the best in the country.

This decaying building once housed an assembly line for the mass production of military airplanes.

Eventually, it became a dump. Operated by the borough, the landfill was built atop a salt marsh next to the Raritan Bay; it collected industrial and commercial waste between the 1950s and 1970s; it is estimated to contain over 600,000 cubic yards of trash, according to one report.

But where others see a landfill, Willner sees potential.

"It's a green oasis on a quickly developing coast," Willner said last week while hiking through the mud and thick brush of Aeromarine's sprawling natural setting.

"Look at the view from here," he added, pointing in the direction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Manhattan skyline.

Since closing, the landfill has gone largely untouched. Over the years, it has become overgrown with brush and is now attracting marsh hawks, pheasants, herons and other birds, and even a few deer.

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"It became a de facto preserve because of the impairments," Willner said of the site. "It's not easy to develop because of the waste, and it's not easy to sell.... And so here we are, with this extraordinary evolving resource, with emerging forests and fields and wetlands. But it really is a dump."

The property is now dubbed by the state as "an area in need of redevelopment." The special designation means the borough has the right to choose who and what is developed there, within reason, despite the wishes of the owner.

Not surprising, lawyers representing the borough and the owners are currently battling it out in court.

Although complicated in the details, the heart of the battle is simple: both sides want to build housing on the site -- the owners just want to build more. The pending three lawsuits will ultimately decide the specifics of the development, but the end result is presently a tossup between the owner's requested 569 condos or Keyport's plan for a mix of 320 various units, either condos, single- family homes and/or commercial space and other amenities.

A developer hopes to build over 500 residential units on the Aeromarine site, which was once operated as a landfill. At right, Andy Willner walks through the site's industrial park, where some businesses still operate. Below, a view of the Raritan Bay from the 62-acre tract. In its dormant state, Willner said the land has become a sanctuary for several species of birds.

Willner envisions alternative uses, namely recycling the buildings that are already there and still operational.

"The uniqueness of this is that there are very few forests on the coast," Willner said last week while surveying the property. "It's astounding. You can understand why people want to build houses here. On the other hand, why shouldn't it be the public's?"

Brownfields to greenfields

Earlier this month, the Baykeeper released a pamphlet on alternative ways to remediate brownfields into greenfields. The paper's release is especially timely considering the ongoing Aeromarine litigation. Another factor to consider is the borough's recent partnership with

the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), a partnership that promises to aid the town in cleaning up the contamination without having to rely on developers for funding.

To the layman, the pamphlet is dense with information. Willner summed it up as simple economics.

"Our paper makes the point that there should be state incentives and subsidies to ensure that any brownfields project has a greenfields component," Willner summarized. "What we would like to see is a level playing field that allows the same kind of tax credits to be used for greenfields projects as for brownfields projects."

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The pamphlet was sent to state and local officials a few weeks ago. In July, Willner will speak in Trenton before some of those same officials, in the hope of having new laws enacted to preserve greenways.

Aeromarine as a ratable

Willner said he is in no way advocating that the town abandon its hopes of finding new tax ratables. On the contrary, he has a plan: Why not build where there are already buildings?

"If I were in charge of the world, this is the footprint where the redevelopment would occur," Willner said, standing before a rusted-out airplane hangar once used for assembly-line production in the 1940s. "Done right, they could capture as much sustainable ratables as allowing 500 homes out here."

"The second half of that is there are 150-plus jobs here," Willner continued, standing among the property's industrial park. "The idea that you would eliminate those jobs in a blue-collar town is anathema to Baykeeper.

"They make boilers and boiler accessories here," Willner noted, pointing to one of the industrial park's businesses. "Very profitable. Very little thought given to what happens to these jobs. If there was a plan to put them out on the highway, Route 35 or 36, perhaps it makes sense to move them. But as long as they're doing well here, seems to me, they should develop a plan around their survival."

According to Willner, it all comes down to finding a balance between environmental and economical sustainability.

"If New Jersey and New York don't continue to be good places to live, it won't matter how good the economy is: people won't live here," he said.

The area's quality of life is essential for the region's residents, he added.

"Without a place to recreate and a relationship with nature, no matter what their economic [status] is, their lives are not as valuable," Willner said. "You can't live just by putting money in your pocket in a place that's truly awful. When you're rich you can leave, go to 'paradise." When you're not, you have to create your own paradise nearby."

To view the Baykeeper's entire pamphlet on turning brownfields into greenfields, go to {1}.

Copyright 2001 -- 2006 GMN

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FILENAME: jerseycity_landfill_dep_tired_of_waiting.060731.txt

The Jersey JournalJuly 31, 2006

DEP grows impatient with city's waffling on PJP site

By Ken Thorbourne, Journal Staff Writer

Plans to cap the old PJP landfill in Jersey City -- where a California company wants to build a mega-warehouse -- are on hold until local officials decide what they want to put there, state officials said.

"We would like to see an enduse for the property," said Ed Putnam, assistant director for remediation, planning and design for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "So we are willing to allow time for that to occur."

A City Council showdown on the warehouse to be built by the AMB Corp. fizzled when its main booster, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, convinced a wary council at its July 19 meeting to put the vote off for a month.

But the DEP isn't going to wait forever, Putnam said.

"Eventually, if we don't have a legitimate enduse we are going to have to tell Waste Management to go ahead," Putnam said.

Waste Management of New Jersey Inc., one of the polluters, agreed six years ago to install a waterproof cap over the entire 87-acre site, where in 1985 the DEP paid to remove 20,000 chemical drums which caused underground fires on the site for nearly two decades.

The warehouse is proposed for 41 acres of the site owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.

Plans to cap the site await approval from the state DEP and the federal Environmental Protection Agency and could begin as early as this autumn, Waste Management officials said.

But determination of the enduse is holding things up and is key to designing the cap.

For example, a warehouse needs to be built on level land, but hilly terrain would likely be the result should Waste Management go through with its plan to place a waterproof material over the soil, then plant grass on top of it, Putnam said.

Also, if the warehouse were to be built, its concrete floor and the asphalt outside could be considered part of the cap, Putnam said.

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DEP has asked AMB and Waste Management officials to meet and come back to the agency with a joint proposal, which they have not done as yet, Putnam said.

AMB may also have to drive pilings into the site to support the warehouse, said Kenneth Siet of TRC Associates, AMB's environmental consultant. "We'd have to do geotechnical borings and get state approvals for it," Siet said.

DEP has also met at least twice with county officials pursuing the idea of turning the landfill into a golf course, Putnam said. In April, Waste Management sent DEP a letter supporting the county's concept of a recreational end use for the site.

"Virtually anything can be built on a capped landfill, as long as it's engineered properly," he said.

Copyright 2006 The Jersey Journal

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FILENAME: sommerville_landfill_plans.061024.txt

Courier NewsOct. 24, 2006

Somerville officials tout landfill plans

Recently unveiled 'vision plan' first step in long-awaited redevelopment.

By Jared Flesher, Staff Writer

SOMERVILLE -- If things go smoothly, the redevelopment of the former borough landfill could be under way by early 2008, borough officials say.

But first, the borough needs to create a revised redevelopment plan for the site.

The first step in that process, the presentation of a "Landfill Vision Plan" developed over the past year by a group of professional planners and borough volunteers, occurred Saturday.

"The meeting went exceptionally well," said Colin Driver, the borough's director of economic development.

At the meeting, a plan was presented that calls for 1,200 housing units, 45,000 square feet of retail space, 45,000 square feet of office/commercial space, a 30,000-square-foot civic space and a 25,000-square-foot inn. The plan outlines two building phases.

"One of the strengths of the plan is its flexibility," Mayor Brian Gallagher said during a phone interview. "By creating a phased-in plan, it allows us options down the road."

The 160 acres of the Landfill Redevelopment Site includes the former landfill along Route 206, NJ Transit property and other adjacent land.

The Vision Plan

The first phase of the vision plan calls for a pedestrian-oriented redevelopment centered on a rebuilt train station and a 30,000 square- foot civic space.

"The Hub" around the train station would include up to a dozen multi- story buildings of varying heights, with boutique stores on the ground level and residential units above, Driver said. One of those buildings, meant to serve as a focal point of the development, may be 6 stories to 8-stories tall.

In all, the area around the train station and a new adjacent neighborhood would include 850 housing units, made up of town homes and apartment-style buildings. "We want it to be something that is architecturally attractive," Driver said of the entire area. "We want it to be a destination."

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This phase of the plan calls for a large plaza, an inn, at least one parking garage, 20,000 square feet of office/commercial space and 20,000 square feet of retail space.

The second phase of the plan calls for 350 more housing units, 20,000 square feet of office/commercial space and 20,000 square feet of retail space.

This second neighborhood, dubbed "The Heights," would be built atop the former landfill.

Between these two new neighborhoods would run a swath of open space referred to as "The Green Seam," including foot trails and jogging paths.

"It would become a pleasant passive recreation area, where people can stroll and enjoy the scenery," Driver said.

At the northern and southern ends of the open space, active recreation such as sports fields are proposed.

According to estimates, the finished project would bring in 1,900 new residents, including about 80 children; and garner $4.2 million in annual property tax revenue.

Reaction

Leonard Moye of East Rutherford owns about four acres in the development area along Route 206. After Saturday's meeting, he said he is no longer as skeptical of the plan as he was before learning d more about it.

"I'm impressed at the moment," he said.

But Kim Wortman, a former borough council member, said she is concerned about the 1,200 proposed housing units.

"What we are proposing here today could increase the population by 80 new students, however, with absolutely no guarantee that it won't be 800 news students," she said. "As one who has sat on the Borough Council making decisions on how to cut or not cut a defeated school budget, I again ask that you relook at this before making any recommendations that include a housing component."

According to Driver, the estimate of 80 students is based on statistical studies of how many children were generated by similar developments in other areas of New Jersey.

How could 1,200 housing units result in 80 more students?

Transit-oriented developments such as this one tend to attract young, upwardly bound professionals and empty nesters, both groups which have few children, Driver said. Single-family homes tend to lead to the most new children, and this plan doesn't include that type of housing, he said. Rather, the plan calls for town homes and apartment-style buildings.

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Planning Board chairman Bernie Navatto echoed Driver's assessment. In his experience, developments such as the one proposed at the former landfill do not lead to a drastic increase in children, he said.

"Based on my experience with other vision plans, the background material that was gathered to put this plan together was really extraordinary," Navatto said. "This is not a situation where a developer hired somebody to present a picture to use that was really rosy."

Gallagher added that all the revenue created by the redevelopment will more than pay for the costs associated with additional children in local schools.

Council president Rob Wilson said he is impressed with the effort put into the plan and Saturday's presentation, but he had a few concerns after the meeting.

"It is a little bit heavy on residential out toward 206," he said.

Wilson wants to see more office and commercial space out in that area, he said. He also said he believes the borough should be skeptical on the number of 1,200 housing units resulting in 80 additional children.

"We will have to look at that very carefully," he said.

Committee member Thompson Mitchell said he would like to see the 1,200 housing units cut in half.

Wortman voiced another concern at the meeting.

"This is a landfill and in capping the landfill there is no guarantee that some day a cancer cluster may not occur to the people who purchase those housing units on the landfill," she said.

Driver said other developments have successfully been built atop other New Jersey landfills.

"The Department of Environmental Protect has very stringent guidelines," he said. As part of those guidelines, houses on the landfill won't have basements, will have vapor barriers and will be built in such a way that they can't sink and settle, he said.

What's next

The road to redevelopment at the landfill leads from "Vision Plan" to "Revised Redevelopment Plan" to the borough soliciting proposals from redevelopers and finally choosing a redeveloper, Driver said.

At Saturday's meeting, the Borough Council passed a resolution asking the Planning Board to ensure that Regional Plan Association, an urban planning firm, creates a final vision plan for presentation within the next six weeks.

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At future meetings of the borough council and Planning Board, borough officials would then need to adopt the vision plan. Using that vision plan, the Planning Board would then revise its current redevelopment plan for the landfill and ask the borough council to adopt it.

The borough's goal is to have a revised redevelopment plan approved by January 2007, Driver said. Once a revised redevelopment plan is in place, the borough can start soliciting proposals from developers. Gallagher said 70 developers from around the country have expressed interest.

"Location, location, location," Gallagher said in explanation of all the attention. Somerville is in the center of the state, is in an area that is the worldwide home of the pharmaceutical industry, and the space to be redeveloped is large and promising, he said.

After a proposal is approved and a redeveloper is designated, work can begin. The goal is to have shovels in the ground in the first half of 2008, Driver said.

Staff Writer Celanie Polanick contributed to this story.

Jared Flesher can be reached at (908) 707-3176 or jflesher@c-n.com.

Copyright 1997-2006 Courier News.

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FILENAME: mercury_air_tests_under_way_in_monroe.19990117.txt

Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ) (pg. 1B)January 17, 1999

Mercury Air Tests Under Way In Monroe

By Page: 1B

By GENE VERNACCHIO, Courier-Post Staff

MONROE -- Carol Scales already knew the water running from her faucet was contaminated with mercury. Now she knows the air her family breathes is tainted too.

Scales' McCarty Avenue home was one of the first in the township to undergo an indoor air quality test being conducted by the municipality's Environmental Commission.

The commission has paid $1,250 for a one-month mercury vapor analyzer rental and plans to conduct 20 indoor air quality tests over the next two weeks.

Ed Knorr, chairman of the Monroe Environmental Commission, recently completed 60 water and soil samples at randomly selected homes across the township. Of those, he said, three homes showed excessive levels of mercury in water supplies and one in soil samples.

He said such indoor air tests have not been previously performed locally.

"These tests will help us understand and educate homeowners and ease their minds," Knorr said.

Last year, the Gloucester County freeholders authorized funding to test 1,000 private wells in nine municipalities after mercury was found in 16 Monroe wells.

A number of affected homes in Monroe have since connected to public water supplies.

Knorr said the indoor air quality test results will be combined with results of the water and soil samples in a report due to be compiled later this year.

The mercury is believed to have seeped into the aquifer, an underground rock formation that traps water from several sources, including industry, pesticides and landfills.

"I think the air samples are important because a number of people don't realize that the mercury (vaporizes)," Knorr said. "That type of exposure, whether it's from a stove, taking hot showers or doing laundry, could be as dangerous as the primary exposure to mercury."

To date, the commission has performed three indoor air tests in homes with previously identified mercury water contamination.

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Knorr said two of three homes tested have already switched to public water supplied by the Monroe Municipal Utilities Authority and showed no signs of mercury air contamination.

However, Scales' home near Crystal Lake did show slight contamination levels.

Knorr said homes with significant mercury air contamination could be decontaminated by using products specially designed to remove heavy metals from walls, carpeting, drapery, bedding and sofas.

Scales said she has applied for a special filter designed to remove mercury from her tap water and expects it to be installed shortly.

She believes the excessive mercury levels in her home's water are to blame for a variety of her 17-year-old son's illnesses, which include severe headaches, blurred vision, depression and a metallic taste in his mouth.

"But the big question now is what do we do?" she said. "I have four children living in this house."

Risks of mercury, a toxic heavy metal, include neurological and other health problems, particularly in developing fetuses and young children. Mercury accumulates in microorganisms and stays in the body once ingested or absorbed.

Copyright (c) Courier-Post

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FILENAME: tainted_air_water_may_be_cancerrate_factors.011219.txt

Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ) (pg. A01)December 19, 2001

Tainted Air, Water May Be Cancer-rate Factors Report Ends 6-year-study In Dover

By Jean Mikle and Kirk Moore/ Toms River Bureau

TOMS RIVER -After six years of study, researchers were unable to link Dover Township's higher-than-normal rates of childhood cancer to any single environmental cause, according to an epidemiological study released yesterday.But scientists did find that exposure to contaminated drinking water, and to air emissions from the former Ciba-Geigy Corp. plant, were associated with elevated levels of leukemia in girls.

The report, released yesterday by the state Department of Health and Senior Services and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, was the centerpiece of the nearly six-year-old investigation into the possible causes of elevated levels of childhood leukemia, brain and central nervous system cancers in Dover.

The report's findings were greeted with mostly positive reviews by families of children with cancer, with several family members saying the association between leukemia cases, contaminated air and polluted water vindicates their belief that past environmental problems contributed to a high incidence of cancer in Dover.

`A victory' declared

"I've been called the eternal optimist throughout this thing because everyone said they would never find anything," said Linda L. Gillick, who for nearly six years has chaired the monthly meetings of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster. "I said, with what you have here, they have to find something. I was right."

Gillick said she believes it is "a victory," that researchers were able to find an association between environmental contamination and elevated cancer levels, since most previous studies have not been able to make any type of connection.

Researchers were able to find no explanation for the higher-than-normal rates of brain or central nervous system cancers. Female children born to women who were exposed to large amounts of water from United Water Toms River's Parkway well field while pregnant were at greater risk of developing leukemia, as were female children whose mothers were exposed to elevated levels of air emissions from the former Ciba-Geigy Corp. plant.

Scientists stressed that the public is no longer in danger from the pollutants mentioned in the report, because the contamination sources have either been cleaned up or cut off by ongoing treatment processes.

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"The people who are hearing this should know it's safe to drink their water in Toms River," said acting state health Commissioner George T. DiFerdinando.

"It's very unusual to even find an association," DiFerdinando said. "It's very difficult to turn an association into a cause. We do not have that last piece today."

Researchers repeatedly stressed, however, that the limited number of cases included in the study makes it impossible to draw any concrete conclusions from the results.

"Chance remains a possible explanation for some of all of these findings," said Jerald A. Fagliano, a program manager with the state health department and the study's lead investigator, "due to the inherently small size of the study."

Computer models used

One of the most arduous and expensive aspects of the investigation was its "water modeling" of Dover Township, using computers to reconstruct water supply sources and use from the 1960s through the 1990s.

Those models played in big part in the findings that link the parkway well field to female leukemia cases. It's a breakthrough in the methodology of studying pollution-linked public health problems, said Juan J. Reyes, director of regional operations for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

"In only a few cases have we associated an exposure with an increase in risk," Reyes said. "The water distribution modeling has caught attention not just nationally, but internationally...it's changing the landscape of how these models are used."

Researchers could not establish any link between environmental exposures and brain and central nervous system cancers in the study group, Fagliano said.

But for the years 1982 to 1996, "we did find an association between pre- natal exposure to the parkway well field water and leukemia in females," Fagliano said.

A plume of groundwater pollution from the Reich Farm Superfund site leached into the Parkway well field around 1982, researchers estimate. Volatile organic contaminants, including trichloroethylene, a human carcinogen, were found in the well field in the late '80s.

Girls who developed leukemia in the years between 1982 to 1996 were five times more likely than children in the control group to have been exposed to high levels of water from the parkway wells, Fagliano said.

That difference shot up to 15 times more likely in a narrower time frame of 1984 to 1996, he added. The leukemia patients totaled 22 children, 13 of them girls, officials said.

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"It's important to point out that we did not see post-natal associations for leukemia, males, or nervous system cancers," Fagliano added.

Leukemia in very young girls aged up to 4 years was 19 times more likely to be associated with air emissions from the Ciba-Geigy plant, based on where their homes were located in relation to emissions and wind patterns mapped by investigators, Fagliano said.

Very few children in the study group lived in homes with private wells in areas of Dover with ground water pollution. There was some association of leukemia with polluted private wells, but only one case was verified.

Other possible factors, like leaks from the Ciba-Geigy ocean outfall pipeline through Dover or the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey, had no association with the cancers, Fagliano said.

The study investigators conducted in-depth interviews with families of 40 cancer patients diagnosed from 1979 to 1996 and 159 families of "control" children who didn't have cancer, matched by gender and year of birth with the cancer patients.

A review of birth records focused on 48 children diagnosed from 1979 to 1986, and 480 matched control birth records.

Investigators looked at potential factors like parents' exposure to chemical or radiological materials in their workplaces, chemicals in the household, smoking and tap water use.

Polluters' viewpoint

Representatives of Union Carbide Corp. and Ciba Speciality Chemicals Corp. said the small number of cases in the study makes the report less than conclusive.

Ciba spokeswoman Donna Jakubowski noted that researchers said the association between exposure to emissions from the plant's former dye- manufacturing operations and elevated levels of leukemia in girls could be caused by chance or some other factor that is not yet known.

"Based on what we've heard today, Ciba continues to believe our site has not impacted public health," Jakubowski said.

Jane Teta, an epidemiologist for Union Carbide Corp., noted that one association drawn by researchers between exposure to polluted parkway well field water and elevated levels of leukemia in girls was based on only four leukemia cases.

"There was nothing in males, which makes it odd," Teta said.

United Water Toms River spokesman Richard Henning said the company does not believe the study "truly concludes that there is any association between our water and the childhood cancer."

53

"We are fully supportive of further testing and will continue to cooperate with all parties that want to continue looking at this issue," Henning said.

But Jan Schlictmann, a lawyer whose eight-year court fight on behalf of leukemia victims in Woburn, Mass., inspired the book and movie, "A Civil Action," hailed yesterday's findings as a major step forward for environmental science.

"This is an earthquake...This has big implications for law, public health and environmental health policy," Schlictmann said.

Schlictmann's case against companies that spilled solvents into Woburn's ground water met with checkered results, but it did bring about a federal epidemiological study that pointed to an elevated risk of cancer from those pollutants.

"It shows how far-reaching this is, even more than Woburn," said Linda Gillick's son, Michael, 22, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma as an infant. Michael Gillick said the study "proves that contamination caused cancer, which is what we've been pushing for."

State health officials said they plan to return to Dover in late January or early February for another public meeting to discuss the study's findings. The study released yesterday is a draft version, and public comment will be taken for 60 days.

GRAPHIC:

RECOMMENDATIONS

The state Department of Health and Senior Services should update its study of cancer incidence in Dover when an additional five years of data are available from the New Jersey State Cancer Registry to determine if there are any changes in childhood cancer incidence or time trends in the township. Efforts should be continued to cease or reduce exposure to hazardous substances in the township, including: Ensuring that groundwater pollution from the Reich Farm Superfund site does not cause contamination of additional wells in United Water Toms River's parkway well field by monitoring effectiveness of current treatment systems and sampling the pollution plume from the site to make sure it does not drift into unaffected wells Private well restriction zones -areas of Dover where private wells have been closed off because they are contaminated -should be maintained The cleanup of the former Ciba-Geigy Corp. Superfund site should continue, so that chemicals from the site that have! leached into the aquifer can be cleaned up Educational efforts on cancer should continue in Dover, including providing information on environmental health to students, teachers, health-care providers and the community at large

State Department of Health and Senior Services, federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

BY THE NUMBERS

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* Cost of childhood cancer investigation in Dover Township: About $10 million, $7.5 million in federal funds

* Length of childhood cancer investigation in Dover: 6 years first interviews for epidemiological study conducted in 1998

* Families of children with cancer interviewed for epidemiological study: 40 families with children who were diagnosed with leukemia or nervous system cancer before age 20, while living in Dover between 1979 and 1996 - 22 leukemia cases 18 nervous system cases

* Control group families interviewed for study: 159 families whose children did not develop cancer, matched to the case families by the child's age, sex and residence in Dover

* Families of children with cancer evaluated for birth records study (A case was defined as a child diagnosed with any type of cancer before age 20, whose mother was a resident of Dover at the time of the child's birth. No interviews done.): 48 -16 leukemia cases 13 nervous system cancers 19 other types of cancers

* Control group families evaluated for birth records study: 480

State Department of Health and Senior Services, federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Summary, supporting documents for Toms River cancer cluster report: www.state.nj.us/health

Copyright (c) Asbury Park Press

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FILENAME: montville_to_discuss_pollution_in_wells_res.020405.txt

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) (pg. 39)April 5, 2002

Montville To Discuss Pollution In Wells -Residents Concerned About Carcinogens

By Giovanna Fabiano

Montville Township and state officials are holding a public meeting to address residents' concerns about more than 50 wells that are contaminated with industrial and possibly carcinogenic chemicals.

On Wednesday, officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection and Spill Compensation Fund will discuss the results of a township-wide well water survey completed last year, said health officer John Wozniak.

"The purpose of the meeting is to present to the public what the potential options are for supplying a safe, plausible water supply to residents that were affected," Wozniak said.

Those residents have two options, said Wozniak. They can switch to the township's water supply or install a Point of Entry Treatment or POET system, a carbon filter that purifies the incoming water supply.

Digging deeper wells was ruled out because there is a good chance that the wells could become contaminated again in the future.

Money from the New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund will be available to residents, Wozniak said.

The contamination came to light in December 2000 when a Prospect Street couple learned their well was polluted with tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, a dry cleaning fluid and metal degreaser.

The township has been conducting tests on private neighborhood wells for more than a year, focusing on those around the area of Morris, Montville and Highland avenues, Kokora and Prospect streets, Viewmont Terrace and Schneider Lane.

More than 300 well samples were analyzed, resulting in 51 confirmed cases of contamination that exceeded the state's acceptable levels, Wozniak said.

"What sparked the initial concern was that we had a sparsely contaminated well. From there, the whole segment of the township was to be sampled and then we opened the testing up to the entire township because many people were concerned," he said.

The next phase of the study, handled by the DEP, will investigate the cause of the contamination.

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PCE is a colorless liquid with a sharp, sweet odor. It has been shown to cause liver and kidney tumors in laboratory animals. It is not known how PCE affects people who drink tainted water or inhale contaminated air, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

"There are a lot of financial repercussions for the property owners. The house values have gone down and we have health concerns because we've been drinking the water for the past five years," said Robert Hillegass, a Highland Avenue resident whose private well tested positive for the contamination. "I definitely plan to go to that meeting. . . . We used to wash our dirty vegetables in that water."

All Montville residents are invited to attend the 7 p.m. meeting, held at the Montville Township Municipal Building at 195 Changebridge Road.

Giovanna Fabiano works in the Morris County Bureau. She can be reached at gfabiano@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910.

Copyright 2002 The Star-Ledger

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FILENAME: dep_store_site_tainted_drycleaning_chemical.020713.txt

Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ) (pg. A01)July 13, 2002

Dep: Store Site Tainted Dry-cleaning Chemicals In Water, Soil In Spring Lake

By Tracy Robinson/coastal Monmouth Bureau

SPRING LAKE -Borough officials will meet Monday to discuss contamination at the former site of La Sala Dry Cleaners, which has been found to contain possibly carcinogenic chemicals.Soil and groundwater samples taken at the 1308 Third Ave. property have determined there are levels of tetrachloroethene - also called perchloroethylene or PCE -up to hundreds or thousands of times higher than what is considered safe by the state.

PCE is a colorless liquid primarily used in dry cleaning and is classified as a probable human carcinogen, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Fred Mumford saidyesterday.

Mumford declined to comment yesterday on the possible health risks associated with the chemical or the impact on the area, pending more information on the levels found.

"I'm not going to say without knowing the levels or where it has been found," Mumford said. "You need to know that to know what the health concerns are."

Borough Business Administrator Tom Ferguson said this week the borough received word that the property owner's plan to remediate the area has been rejected by the state.

The concentration of PCE found in the ground water there "represents a potential threat to indoor air quality" in surrounding buildings, states the letter rejecting the remedial investigation/remedial action work plan submitted by property owners 1308 Associates LLC.

After reviewing the remediation plan, the DEP has directed the owners to conduct air quality tests at six surrounding properties, including the Bank of New York, Bonnie O'Malley Realtors and Spring Lake Florist.

Attorney Thomas Spiesman, hired by the borough in May to oversee the remediation issue, said no official notice of the problem has been given to nearby property owners or renters.

"That is really the responsibility of the state if there is a public health risk," said Spiesman, an environmental attorney with Porzio, Bromberg and Newman, a Morristown firm.

The state requires that the air quality in two residential properties east of the site be tested, including the property west of Karen Durando's Jersey Avenue home. Yesterday, though, Durando was surprised to hear of contamination at the former dry cleaners, which operated for many years and closed in 1999.

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Durando said her children swim in a pool filled with well water, and she plans to go to Monday's meeting to learn more about the issue.

But not everyone was surprised by the news.

"That's why it never sold - because of an environmental problem," said Bonnie O'Malley of Brielle, whose real estate office sits just south of the property.

As O'Malley was interviewed in her Third Avenue office yesterday, she received a call from a borough employee letting her know the air quality of her office would be tested soon.

"For years it was a cleaning establishment, and there was a problem with the soil," O'Malley said, noting soil samples were taken at the site recently.

"I don't like the fact that those tanks are sitting out there," she said about metal drums located in a lot between her office and the former La Sala site.

"I don't know what it is, but that makes me a little uncomfortable," O'Malley said.

Spiesman said he does not know what the drums contain either but said they may contain soil or water samples. Mayor Thomas Byrne could not be reached for comment Thursday or yesterday. Borough officials were aware that the site was under investigation since last fall, Spiesman said.

Ferguson said the borough's environmental commission is involved, and the Borough Council will be briefed Monday on "what we know" at a private executive session prior to a regular council meeting.

In February, 1308 Associates LLC was before the borough's land use board seeking approval to renovate two existing retail spaces at the site, demolish a portion of a rear structure and replace it with six apartments, but the application was denied. Ferguson said the application required the property owner to have soil samples taken.

"We knew there was an issue when they applied for test borings for the road," Ferguson said.

A March 14, 2002, letter from PMK Consulting and Environmental Engineers, the environmental consultants hired by the property owners, states that PCE was detected in soil samples taken at depths of 1.5 to 9.5 feet deep at concentrations ranging from 1.5 to 180 parts per million, which are above the DEP limits of 1 part per million.

Groundwater samples taken show the PCE levels range from 1.2 to 13,000 parts per billion and exceed the state standard of 1 part per billion, according to the PMK letter.

"Due to the high concentration of PCE in the absorbed phase (soil) and dissolved phase (ground water) there is a possibility that free phase of dry cleaning solvents may be present within the property," the letter states.

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According to the DEP's rejection letter, six groundwater samples, in addition to the four samples that were identified by PMK, exceed the state standard for PCE in ground water.

Spiesman was not sure how much detail will be made public at Monday's meeting.

"We will try to make whatever information is available to us available to the public," said Spiesman.

Copyright (c) Asbury Park Press

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FILENAME: air_tests_planned_near_toxic_site_apartments.030109.txt

Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ) (pg. 01)January 9, 2003

Air Tests Planned Near Toxic Site Apartments Near Former Gas Plant To Be Probed For Contaminants

By Samuel P. Nitze/ Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH -New Jersey Natural Gas Co. has agreed to conduct air-quality tests inside three Housing Authority buildings near the site of a former gas- manufacturing plant where the company is working to remove contaminated soil.Air-quality tests conducted recently in crawl spaces beneath buildings A, B and C of the Seaview Manor Housing Complex showed one sample with contaminant levels high enough to trigger mandatory indoor air tests under state Department of Environmental Protection regulations, said gas company spokeswoman Roseanne Koberle.

The gas company conducted air tests yesterday in an apartment above the crawl space that generated the outlying sample, Koberle said. The company intends to test further in all three buildings, covering all 20 apartment units before the end of February, though it is not required to do so, Koberle said.

"We are doing this as part of our commitment to the community, to be a good neighbor," she said. "We are hearing that residents would be interested in learning more about the air quality, so we have decided to do the tests. We are hopeful that the results will provide the residents with added assurance about the safety of our efforts."

Julia Wheeler, chairwoman of the Concerned Citizens Coalition, formed by residents concerned that contamination in the area has made some of them sick, said she welcomed the move.

"Certainly (the tests) should at least help us know where we stand," said Wheeler, who lives in Seaview Manor. "We are still seeking answers."

The site in question, roughly 17 acres between Long Branch Avenue and Liberty Street, was once home to the Long Branch Manufactured Gas Plant, which processed coal into gas. The plant stopped production in the 1960s.

Nearly 20 years ago, coal-tar residue and other toxins associated with the gas production were discovered in the soil. NJNG, owner of the site, has been working since 2000, under a cleanup plan approved by the DEP, to remove contaminated soil, protect a creek running through the site and make the area safe for future use.

Members of the citizens coalition and several environmental groups have criticized the gas company's efforts and DEP oversight as inadequate.

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The work has proceeded in phases, starting with an area recently dedicated as the new Jerry Morgan Park. Remediation of the main plant site, north of the park, will continue until spring. Plans for remediation of the Housing Authority properties are still being worked out with the authority, Koberle said.

Tyrone Garrett, executive director of the authority, said he expects dozens of residents will have to be relocated when the gas company begins remediation work in the area around and beneath the buildings.

Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., who wrote letters to the gas company requesting indoor air tests, said he, too, was pleased by the company's decision to test further.

"It shows they are being responsive," Pallone said.

Pallone said he plans to meet with gas company CEO Larry Downes in the coming weeks to discuss other matters, including the possibility of additional testing during the summer and NJNG's plans to clean and protect the creek at the site.

Copyright (c) Asbury Park Press

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FILENAME: superfund_plan_epa_names_wall_site.030502.txt

Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ) (pg. 01)May 2, 2003

Superfund PlanEPA Names Wall Site

By Richard Quinn/coastal Monmouth Bureau

WALL -Contaminated land under a former dry-cleaning store on Laurel Avenue - which caused concern and the installation of 27 ventilation units to improve indoor air quality -may be a Superfund site by year's end.The federal Environmental Protection Agency this week announced it has proposed adding the former White Swan/Sun Cleaners site to the National Priorities List of the Superfund program.

State officials last year asked that the site be included on the list, which currently has 113 sites across New Jersey.

Federal officials will accept public comment on the proposal for 60 days, said Elizabeth Zimmerman, an agency spokeswoman. Comments can be made by calling an agency hot line at (800) 424-9346.

"The EPA wants to put it on the final list," Zimmerman said yesterday from her office in New York City. "And it will go on the list unless something comes up in the public comment that shows it should not be included."

Zimmerman said "99.9 percent" of sites proposed for Superfund status are approved. Once the public comments are reviewed, the site likely would be added to the Superfund list the next time the list is updated.

That could happen this fall, said Ben Conetta, site assessment manager for the federal agency.

Conetta could not estimate how much it would cost to clean the site, which is now part of the Fleet Bank property. He said more testing of ground water and indoor air quality in surrounding structures needs to be conducted to determine the extent of the problem and how long it might take to remove all contamination.

A series of tests since 1999 have discovered soil and ground water contaminated with tetrachloroethylene, a possible carcinogen used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing. The chemical is believed to have leaked into the ground from underground storage tanks.

In February 2001, Summit Bank (which was later bought by Fleet Bank) reached an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection to start cleaning up the site.

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Two septic systems were removed and high levels of contamination were found in the soil. By the end of 2001, the federal agency had stepped in to start testing, according to a case history provided by Zimmerman.

There are now "24 homes and three commercial establishments" that have received ventilation systems from the agency, according to the case history. Conetta could not say yesterday how much has been spent on the systems to date.

"The New Jersey DEP and the EPA have handled the immediate concerns," Zimmerman said.

Conetta said he was unaware of any current problems at the site.

"There hasn't been anything that I'm aware of that has come up" in the past six months, said Steve Lubetkin, a spokesman for Fleet Bank. "We have been cooperating with all the relevant authorities."

Richard Quinn: (732) 643-4024 or rquinn@app.com

Copyright (c) Asbury Park Press

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FILENAME: toxics_found_at_raritan_center.030717.txt

Home News Tribune (East Brunswick, NJ) (pg. 03)July 17, 2003

Toxics Found At Raritan Center

By Aparna Narayanan Health Writer

EDISON: Air-test samples taken at 151 Fieldcrest Ave. have confirmed low concentrations of potentially toxic chemicals in the Raritan Center building.The finding prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which conducted the indoor-air tests, to announce yesterday that it will do further tests.

David Brouwer, a program manager for the corps, said testing at building 151 detected trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. The volatile organic compounds -found in fuels and solvents, and used to degrease metal parts -have been detected in groundwater on the former Raritan Arsenal property.

The chemicals readily evaporate, which led to concerns about the impact of groundwater contamination on the quality of indoor air in nearby buildings.

"They (findings from building 151) are certainly not alarming. They do not pose, in our view, an imminent health threat," Brouwer said.

The chemicals have been linked to dizziness, headache, skin irritation, nausea, cancer in mice, and other neurotoxic effects.

Air tests at building 165 -which houses Celsis International and six other tenants, including a day-care center -found the chemicals were below detection limits, the corps reported June 16.

Brouwer said there was insufficient data to determine if the levels of VOCs found in building 151 -which houses World Pac and two other tenants - are high enough to pose a significant hazard.

"We feel we need to do additional studies," he said, adding the corps will do further soil, air and groundwater tests in and around both buildings.

As part of the investigation, the corps proposes to pilot test a "sub-slab ventilation system" in the portion of building 165 occupied by Peppermint Tree Child Care center. The corps, in a prepared statement, said the welfare of children in the facility is "of particular concern."

The sub-slab ventilation technology will "collect the gas in the soil and vent it to the atmosphere, so it won't enter the building," Brouwer said.

But a lawyer for Winsor Street Associates, owner of 165 Fieldcrest Ave., was critical of the corps' statement that "(Air) samplings at building 165 are inconclusive."

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"We don't believe further testing is required," attorney Arthur Clarke said, adding the Edison Health Department issued a determination June 17 that the building's air quality is safe for occupancy.

Additionally, the proposed further testing does not address the DEP's directive to the corps, issued July 14, to start remediation work under the buildings within 10 days, Clarke said.

"We would like to see the soil gas and the groundwater underlying the site to be cleaned up according to New Jersey DEP standards," he added. "We want to eliminate the potential for them (contaminants) entering the building in the future."

The contaminants found in indoor air in building 151 and in soil gas are "directly linked to pollutants the corps is responsible for," Clarke said.

Bob Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, described the detection of volatile organic compounds in building 151 as "alarming, especially in light of the fact that there are children involved, as little as 6 months old."

He urged the corps to clean the "sources" of the contamination problem.

"The Army Corps is not doing what they promised the people in Edison Township," he said. "They're basically walking away from their responsibility to clean up this site."

Aparna Narayanan: (732) 565-7306 e-mail anarayan@ thnt.com

Copyright (c) Home News Tribune

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FILENAME: n.j._cancer_tops_u.s._average_hard_to_pinp.040115.txt

Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (pg. A01)January 15, 2004

N.J. Cancer Tops U.S. Average -- 'Hard To Pinpoint' Causes

By Lindy Washburn, Staff Writer

New figures from the American Cancer Society give New Jersey a grim distinction: It's the state with the highest rates of prostate cancer, non- Hodgkin's lymphoma, and male colon and rectal cancer, and exceeds the national average in all major forms of cancer surveyed. Women in New Jersey are more likely to hear a diagnosis of cancer than women in any other state except Rhode Island. They are more likely to die from breast cancer than in any other state.

Overall, nearly 44,000 state residents are expected to learn they have cancer this year: 7,970 with breast cancer, 7,930 with prostate cancer, and 5,110 with lung cancer. Cancer will claim an estimated 18,000 lives, accounting for one in four of the state's deaths.

These startling statistics are part of the society's annual report, released Wednesday, which began in 1952 as a four-page mimeograph and now is one of the most widely cited references on cancer in the world. The report, using data covering 1996 to 2000, highlighted the widening mortality gap between African- Americans and whites with cancer. It said that poor people not only are more likely to develop cancer, but have less chance of receiving an early diagnosis and optimal treatment.

While sobering, the statistics are "nothing new,'' said Dr. William Hait, director of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick. Some have suggested that the longtime, large-scale production of chemicals in the state contributes to higher cancer rates, he said, but it is difficult to establish a direct link except in certain specific clusters.

The cause of New Jersey's high cancer rate "is hard to pinpoint,'' he said. The state doesn't differ much from the rest of the country in its rates of smoking, obesity, and infection -all factors that contribute to an increase in cancer, he said. Economically and ethnically, the population is diverse, defying simple analysis.

Recent declines in the incidence of cancer, however, he said, are cause for optimism that the death rates will eventually slow. "We're high, but we're coming down,'' he said. The cancer society did not provide year-to- year comparisons by state.

Blacks in New Jersey, as in the rest of the country, are more likely to die if they are diagnosed with cancer, statistics show. Their death rate from cancer, 251 deaths per 100,000, is 22 percent higher than among whites, according to the latest figures from the state Department of Health.

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Cheryl Walters, 54, of Paterson is president of a local support group for African-American survivors of breast cancer called the Sisters Network, which has five chapters in New Jersey. She spends many hours volunteering to spread the word about mammograms and early detection.

"Let's face it,'' she said, "there are still a lot of African-American women who feel this is a white woman's disease.'' When she was diagnosed in 1996, "I was blessed to have excellent health insurance, excellent doctors, and excellent treatment,'' she said. "But I meet many women who do not.'' Her cancer was found at her first mammogram. Now she encourages women to go for such screenings before it is too late.

The state's sky-high cancer rates may reflect more widespread use of these screening tests, such as the blood test for prostate cancer that measures levels of a specific antibody in the blood, or X-rays of breast tissue to look for evidence of cancer, said Dr. Avi Barbasch, an oncologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and the society's spokesman for New Jersey and New York. These tests detect cancer before any symptoms are obvious, and allow more successful treatment.

The cancer rates could also be attributed to high smoking rates, he said: 27 percent of adults in New Jersey are smokers. Tobacco use is the single largest contributor to cancer, of the lungs as well as other organs, accounting for one-third of all cancers. Although less common than breast or prostate cancer, lung cancer is far more deadly. In New Jersey, it is projected to cause 4,720 deaths this year, many more than the 1,480 from breast cancer or the 1,030 from prostate cancer.

The American Lung Association this week gave New Jersey failing grades for controlling tobacco use because the state lacks adequate requirements to provide clean indoor air and prevent teenagers from buying cigarettes.

The diversion of money from the legal settlement with the tobacco industry to non-health uses also was faulted.

The bleak statistics in the cancer report also revealed significant progress, said Dr. Michael J. Thun, vice president for epidemiology and surveillance research at the society. Death rates have dropped for men with lung cancer, and for women with uterine and cervical cancer, he said. "The decrease in death rates from female breast cancer is also a substantial success,'' he said.

And much more is known about the steps individuals can take to reduce their risk of cancer. They should stop smoking, avoid obesity, eat nutritiously, increase physical activity, and make use of appropriate screenings, including colonoscopies after age 50.

Early detection saves lives -as scientists and cancer survivors know.

Joan Van Soest, 46, of Franklin Lakes, said she probably wouldn't be here today if she hadn't scheduled a regular checkup during her birthday month three years ago. Her breast surgeon later told her that only a mammogram could have detected her cancer -it would have taken three years for a lump to be detectable, "if I survived.''

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"This year I feel 100 percent,'' said Van Soest, now fully recovered. She counsels newly diagnosed breast cancer patients as a volunteer for the cancer society.

****

The full American Cancer Society report can be found at www.acs.org

****

(SIDEBAR, PAGE a01)

Incidence rates 1996-2000

New Jersey ranks second in the United States in the incidence rate of all cancers among females, at 452.3 cases per 100,000 the rate for the U.S. as a whole is 419.9 cases per 100,000. New Jersey ranks third in the incidence rates among males, at 626.7 cases per 100,000 the rate for the U.S. is 560 cases per 100,000.

Here's how New Jersey ranks among states in specific types of cancers:

* Highest in prostate cancer (193.9 cases per 100,000)

* First in male colon and rectal cancer (78.9 cases per 100,000)

* First in male and female non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (25.8 and 18.3 cases per 100,000, respectively)

* Fourth in female colon and rectal cancer (54.4 cases per 100,000)

* Tied for third in male bladder cancer (44.9 cases per 100,000)

* Seventh in breast cancer (138.2 cases per 100,000)

* Seventh in female bladder cancer (11.8 cases per 100,000)

* 16th in female lung and bronchus cancer (55.2 cases per 100,000)

* 25th in male lung and bronchus cancer (92.2 cases per 100,000)

Source: American Cancer Society Surveillance Research

****

(SIDEBAR, PAGE a06)

Cancer death rates 1996-2000

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New Jersey's ranking drops when it comes to cancer deaths. The state ranks seventh in the U.S. in the death rate from all cancers among females, at 181.7 deaths per 100,000 the overall death rate in the U.S. is 168.3 per 100,000. It ranks 22nd in the death rate from all cancers among males, at 261.4 deaths per 100,000 the death rate in the U.S. is 255.5 per 100,000.

Here's how New Jersey ranks among states in death rates from specific types of cancers:

*-Second in breast cancer deaths (31.3 per 100,000).

*-Third in male colon and rectal cancer deaths (29.5 per 100,000).

*-Ninth in female colon and rectal cancer deaths (20.1 per 100,000).

*-Tied for ninth in male non-Hodgkin's lymphoma deaths (11.6 per 100,000).

*-Fourth in female pancreatic cancer deaths (10.1 per 100,000).

*-Tied for 11th in female non-Hodgkin's lymphoma deaths (7.4 per 100,000).

*-Tied for 22nd in male pancreatic cancer deaths (12.6 per 100,000).

*-Tied for 23rd in female lung and bronchus cancer deaths (41.6 per 100,000).

*-29th in prostate cancer deaths (32.9 deaths per 100,000).

*-33rd in male lung and bronchus cancer deaths (74.9 per 100,000).

Source: American Cancer Society Surveillance Research

****

(TABLE, PAGE a06)

Cancer deaths by race 2000

Total Number White Black Overall Rate* White Black

Bergen 1,969 1,813 99 187.6 189.2 242.2

Passaic 897 769 119 189.6 184.7 254.9

Morris 875 838 26 193.5 197.0 251.5

Hudson 1,122 954 135 203.3 208.2 230.0

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New Jersey 18,073 15,656 2,162 205.9 204.7 250.9

* Per 100,000 population

Source: New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Center for Health Statistics

Caption: ++++<p></p CHART -LIZ ROBERTS / STAFF ARTIST -U.S. cancer deaths (text unavailable).

Caption: Cancer deaths by race 2000 -Page a06.

Copyright (c) 2004 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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FILENAME: mahwah_to_test_schools_air_quality_illness.040813.txt

Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (pg. L03) August 13, 2004

Mahwah To Test School's Air Quality -Illnesses At Ramapo Ridge Lead To Decision

By Brian Aberback, Staff Writer

MAHWAH -Parents' complaints about their children falling ill have prompted the township Health Department to request air quality testing at Ramapo Ridge Middle School.Health Officer John Hopper said he's confident that there's no connection between the school building and the illnesses, but he asked that tests be done to be safe and to allay parents' fears.

"None of the illnesses were caused by any environmental factors," Hopper said Thursday. "This has been reviewed with the school physician and the Bergen County epidemiologist."

Over the past school year, four students have had appendectomies, two have been diagnosed with a thyroid condition known as Hashimoto's disease, and four have experienced a variety of gastrointestinal problems, according to a letter the Health Department sent to the district last week.

The letter recommends an indoor air-quality assessment, including sampling for carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels and relative humidity. It also states that the school should be tested for mold and soil contamination, and that the heating and ventilation system be examined to ensure that it is operating properly.

The recommendations were made after complaints circulated around the community.

Assistant Schools Superintendent Stuart Salkin said he is aware of the issue and that the district agrees with Hopper's assessment that the building is safe.

He said the school board would "certainly be responsive" to Hopper's recommendations.

"This district has always done, and will always do, what's right for kids," Salkin said. "Not just academically, but safety-wise as well."

Salkin couldn't say when the testing might be done other than it would be after school opens. Additional classrooms are being built at the school, but Salkin said the project had nothing to do with any sicknesses. He said the construction, which started in the spring, is being done outside the school.

Some of the sick children missed nearly the entire school year and had to be home-tutored. Several parents whose children are ill said they were skeptical of the clean bill of health given by the town and school district, but none would agree to be identified.

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Bergen County Epidemiologist Somini John said appendicitis and Hashimoto's disease aren't thought to be caused by environmental triggers. Hashimoto's is a common autoimmune disease that normally occurs in middle-aged women. Symptoms include trouble swallowing, swelling in the neck, fatigue, forgetfulness, and intolerance to cold.

"There is no direct cause and effect relationship between any of these diseases, individually or collectively," John wrote Wednesday in a letter to Hopper.

This isn't the first time that Ramapo Ridge has been the subject of concern. Two years ago, the Mahwah teachers union commissioned an air quality study at the school. The report found an inadequate supply of fresh air and carbon monoxide levels in some areas that were not in line with standards.

A district-commissioned study refuted the results of the teachers' report. It was unclear why the teachers asked for the school to be tested. Mahwah Education Association President Kathy Schal couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

***

E-mail: aberback@northjersey.com

Copyright (c) 2004 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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FILENAME: tribe_watches_generations_die_young_blames.040817.txt

Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (pg. A01)August 17, 2004

Tribe Watches Generations Die Young -Blames Illnesses On Toxic Ooze

By Barbara Williams, Staff Writer And Jan Barry

They say their ancestors routinely lived healthy, simple lives, well into their 80s and 90s.That's why the Ramapough Mountain Indians find it so striking -and frightening -that, these days, even older baby boomers are rare in their 500- member Ringwood community.

Almost an entire generation of residents has died off in the last few decades - mainly from cancer. Many have been in their 40s.

That timetable matches how long the community has lived with leftover toxic paint sludge in its midst. And it's why residents and their lawyers are now trying to collect hard statistical evidence that the two events are linked.

"There are a lot of sick people in that area, and a lot of them are dying," said Matthew Plache, a Washington, D.C., attorney who worked with the tribe to get governmental recognition. "We know the toxic waste is a health risk and these people have been and continue to be exposed to it."

Ford Motor Co. initially planned executive housing on the 500-acre site where the Ramapough tribe lives in extreme northern Ringwood, after a subsidiary realty company acquired the mining property in 1965. But it decided instead to use part of it as a dumping ground and trucked in tons of paint sludge and solvents from 1967 until 1974. The old mining company houses and the dump sites were transferred to the borough in the 1970s.

A decade later, the Environmental Protection Agency supervised a Superfund cleanup and declared the site clean in 1994. But dried sludge still continues to resurface, and a strong chemical odor permeates the air in warm weather.

This year, federal and state inspectors surveyed the grounds and are working with Ford to craft a renewed cleanup effort and health studies.

"This stuff is still all over, and I don't think they'll ever come in and clean it completely," said Wayne Mann, a Ramapough tribe member who is head of the neighborhood association. "The government and Ford have given us no reason to trust them, and I don't."

For their part, EPA officials have promised that Ford will remove the sludge, and further testing on the ground and surface water is being planned. Ford executives say they will do whatever the EPA requires of them.

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Although the statistics do not paint a clear picture, the Ramapoughs are burying their dead, and taking care of very ill family members. Since the dumping, 78 people have had cancer and 57 of them have died from the disease, according to the tribe's lawyers. The contamination on the site includes lead, arsenic, methylene chloride, and benzene, which have been linked to different types of cancers.

Lead can cause anemia, damage to the nervous system, kidneys, the reproductive system, and is linked to cancer in animal studies. Arsenic can cause abnormal heart rhythms, nausea, and has been linked to several types of cancers. Low levels of benzene can cause leukemia and other blood disorders, and methylene chloride, in an industrial solvent, is a probable human carcinogen, according to the EPA.

Proving a cause-and-effect might be difficult, say health experts, but a significant number of the residents are suffering with the diseases associated with exposure to these toxins. The state Department of Health and Senior Services is conducting a health study among the Ramapough Mountain residents to catalogue the cases of anemia, asthma, leukemia, cancers, rashes, and skin conditions. The study should be completed at year's end.

Even today, touching the dried sludge leaves the skin with an itchy and burning sensation, and when residents brought some of it to a meeting with state and federal health representatives in February, officials asked the residents to remove it immediately.

"We believe you that it's there, just put it away," said a representative from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry when residents used gloves to remove the sludge from boxes and place it on a table in the middle of borough hall.

Residents now know not to touch the foul-smelling waste, but 30 years ago, the then gooey texture was a magnet for neighborhood children. Large trucks dumped the stuff into piles, slid it down hills, and poured it into old mines.

"We didn't know this stuff was bad for you -we played in it, picked it up, climbed all over it," said Mann. "Everyone did it and now we're paying the price for it."

Since the entire population lives in about 55 houses, almost every home has been affected by some type of illness.

Roger DeGroat and his twin brother, Bob, are considered elders in the community. They are 55 years old. They also have eight other siblings, and with the exception of Roger, all have serious health problems.

"My grandparents lived into their 80s and my dad was 89 when he died my mom was 82," Roger DeGroat said. "But one sister has leukemia and the rest have emphysema, asthma, and skin rashes."

Close-knit as a community, many residents still spend a good deal of their time sitting on front porches or in living rooms talking about the old days. But unlike the past, they can no longer look to their seniors for advice or tales of days gone by. The sense of loss permeates their daily lives.

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"Now when we get together, I look around and there are no elders," said Vivian Milligan, another resident who at 52 is also one of the oldest in the community. "We look at pictures, and there isn't anyone old enough to identify the people or who they're related to."

But for those who do remain, they spend more time than ever attending funerals for family and friends.

"I'm so sick of going to burials -I must have gone to more than 20 in the past couple of years," said one woman who did not want to be identified. "I put my black clothes in the back of my closet -I'm so sick of seeing them. You wonder how many more are going to die?"

Today, Milligan said she knows of only one person in the area who is 81 years old, and a few in their 70s. Residents are not living to the old ages their grandparents did.

An outside firm hired by the attorneys met with residents over the last year, recording whatever health information they can gather. More information still is being collected, and it must still be charted and calculated, but the numbers have already prompted a toxicologist hired by the law firm to say the leukemia numbers are high.

Since 1972, residents report, there have been 11 cases of lung cancer, 12 cases of cervical cancer, eight people with colon cancer, seven people with leukemia, seven with ovarian or uterine cancer, and three cases each of throat, liver, and pancreatic cancers. Two people were diagnosed with brain cancer and two with breast cancer. There were one case each of Hodgkins, mouth, prostrate, stomach, and thyroid cancers reported.

To statisticians, the numbers don't say very much.

"Since these cancer numbers go back over 30 years, the numbers don't seem to be that high," said Lernard Freeman, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society.

But assuming these numbers go back that far may be misleading, said a spokesman for Sheller, Ludwig, and Badey -the environmental law firm representing the residents in the fight to get the area cleaned up.

"We used the 1972 date because that's when Ford was dumping, but we think a lot of the cancers happened in the 1990s," said Jason Conway, from the Philadelphia firm. "We are still in the process of compiling all this raw data, and we will be able to determine a lot more once it's been thoroughly looked at."

Finding outside sources to lend their insights and information on the issue is next to impossible. The one doctor who treated those with severe health problems years ago has died. So has the funeral director who performed most of the burials, and his son sold the business.

This doesn't mean much one way or another to residents -numbers on paper are immaterial to them. They cite life stories.

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They tell of a 13-year-old boy with a heart problem, detected only when the teen tried to make the school basketball team 20 nieces and nephews from one family all with health issues, including one with cancer of the throat a 10- year-old girl born with such severe skin rashes on her feet, sometimes it is painful for her to walk several people who died "when their hearts burst" as explained by doctors to relatives a 20-year-old woman who doesn't smoke or drink, and is not overweight, yet has severe high blood pressure how common stillbirths are and a youngster who died last year of leukemia.

Because they do not welcome outsiders easily, the Ramapoughs are not well- known outside their community. The residents' continued mistrust of the outsiders and the government is based on historical promises never filled, they say.

"Most people won't even come forward today and tell the EPA if they have sludge on their property because they are afraid some official will come and condemn their house," DeGroat said. "Then where are they going to live?"

The tribe, which is recognized by the state but not the federal government, has inhabited the area for more than 200 years. Members say their ancestors were Native Americans who mixed with African-Americans working in the mines during Colonial-era times. Moving isn't an option for them.

Tribe members still live off the land as much as possible -hunting and growing their own vegetables. They are used to taking care of their own, and going to doctors with aches and pains is not part of their lifestyle.

"People never went to doctors unless you were seriously ill, and that still goes on to a great extent today," DeGroat said. "You had what you had, and you moved on. You don't complain about, you just live with it."

But now the residents said living with their health problems is becoming more and more difficult. Too many require chronic care, and the diseases are more serious and deadly than in the past.

"We've seen so many people getting sick and dying over the last ten years, and now finally the pieces are coming together," Milligan said. "We didn't understand it for a while, but now we know how dangerous that stuff is out there, it all makes sense."

****

E-mail: williamsb@northjersey.com

****

(SIDEBAR, PAGE a03)

EPA asks for patience as cleanup plan is completed

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Further cleanup of the former Superfund site in Upper Ringwood has not begun yet, and a health study is not expected to be finished until the end of the year. Residents first met with federal officials in February, showing them the leftover toxic waste.

But government officials are telling residents to be patient, that plans are being created to clean up the dried paint sludge and further test the water in the area.

"After we reviewed Ford's plan to test the 17 monitoring wells, we wanted more work done on surface [water] and groundwater, so we sent it back to them for revisions," said Joseph Gowers, the Environmental Protection Agency project manager. "They've resubmitted the new plan, and we're in the process of reviewing it."

Meantime, Ford is also making a plan to clean up the sludge found protruding out of lawns and woods in the area, Gowers said. This plan must also be approved by the EPA.

So Ford's cleanup of the toxic waste in locations already known will probably not happen until mid-fall or early winter. But testing of the water may occur as early as next month.

The timeline for testing to find sludge that may be beneath the surface has not yet been determined, say government officials.

Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg has requested a public meeting to be held by the EPA informing residents of the status of the project. Gowers said EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt will answer Lautenberg's request within the next couple of weeks.

The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services is conducting a health assessment to determine if contaminants at the landfill are affecting the community's health, or have in the past. They are also analyzing New Jersey State Cancer Registry data to determine if there are any elevated cancer rates in the community. Results will be not available until the end of the year, said a spokeswoman for the department.

A cleanup of the area was conducted in the late 1980s and the early 1990s and the site was declared clean in 1994. Since then, dried paint sludge has continued to resurface.

E-mail: williamsb@northjersey.com

****

(SIDEBAR, PAGE a03)

Sludge may not be area's only threat

In addition to the paint sludge that federal and state agencies have targeted for cleanup in the Ringwood mines area, residents may have been exposed for years to other hazardous waste.

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"Vehicle assembly plants are widely known to use and generate scores of toxic substances," says Melvyn Kopstein, a Superfund cleanup expert hired by attorneys representing the Ramapough Mountain Indian Tribe. In a report on the Ringwood case sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Kopstein raised a concern that industrial chemicals were reportedly dumped into mine shafts, then burned in smoky fires that older residents vividly recall.

"Residents report Ford's frequent deliberate incineration of toxic waste in mine shafts, which forced residents to experience the inhalation of smoke and contaminated air having strong odors," he wrote.

Many industrial chemicals produce more toxic byproducts when incinerated. For instance, Kopstein noted, burning chemicals such as chlorinated benzenes can produce dioxins, a highly toxic byproduct that the EPA lists as causing cancer in laboratory animals.

A Ford spokesman, Jon Holt, said the company is reviewing Kopstein's report.

"We continue to stand by the investigative and remedial work that we have conducted at the site over the years and the assessments that were conducted - all of which was conducted under U.S. EPA oversight," Holt said.

-Jan Barry

Caption: ++++<p></p

Copyright (c) 2004 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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FILENAME: air_quality_prompts_exarsenal_dispute.041117.txt

Home News Tribune (East Brunswick, NJ) (pg. 01)November 17, 2004

Air Quality Prompts Ex-arsenal Dispute

By Jerry Barca Staff Writer

EDISON: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers focused on indoor air quality during a discussion about the cleanup of the former Raritan Arsenal site at a meeting last night in the Municipal Building.A local environmentalist questioned the corps findings. Bob Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, believes people working in Raritan Center, the same ground as the former arsenal, face health risks.

"It's alarming that they are going to try and present a rosy picture," Spiegel said.

James Moore, corps project manager, offered a different perspective.

"It's alarming that Bob, who is with the Edison Wetlands Association, is a person making comments about this," he said.

The corps is moving forward with an indoor air-quality-evaluation process, which the state Department of Environmental Protection approved.

"That's a big deal. Now, that we have that we can move forward," Moore said.

The Raritan Arsenal produced, shipped and stored ammunition from 1917 to 1963. Waste materials, including explosives and mustard gas, were routinely buried at the site.

Frank and Vincent Visceglia, two brothers, bought the majority of arsenal property in 1963 for $20 million and turned most of the property into the Raritan Center office complex.

The 3,200-acre tract is occupied by the office complex, Middlesex County College, Thomas Edison County Park and a regional U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complex.

The corps cleanup began in the late 1980s and continues today. Buried bullets and mortars have been dug up in the last year.

Indoor air-quality evaluation stems from concerns about carcinogenic solvents in the groundwater transforming into vapor and entering buildings where children play and people work.

Minimal levels of pollution were found at Peppermint Tree Child Care center in June 2003.

Five rounds of sampling at the day-care center, after the DEP approved the corps plan, found no harmful vapors, according to the corps.

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The corps took 165 samples from the groundwater, soil and indoor and outdoor air in and around buildings in two large tracts of concern, which encompass the EPA complex, Middlesex County College and Thomas Edison Park.

Moore said the test results for many of the buildings would not be back for another two weeks, but the majority of results show no harm.

Spiegel said Moore, in a Monday meeting, told him that some areas did not meet EPA regulations.

"If that's true. It's really not safe for anybody to be working in this area," Spiegel said.

Moore said the air at Raritan Center is safe to breathe.

He said the regulations Spiegel speaks of are EPA risk-based-screening criteria, which assume a person in the area for 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 70 years.

"And then it could potentially be a risk," Moore said.

Spiegel said he wants the air monitored at Raritan Center and health surveys conducted on all of the people who use the office complex.

Moore maintained the air is safe to breathe.

"If we find someone being impacted, we'll take care of it," he said.

Since 1986 the corps has spent $63 million cleaning up the site. Moore estimated it will take at least another five years to have the entire tract cleaned, but work will begin in the spring to remove all the remaining ordnance.

Jerry Barca: (732) 565-7306; jbarca@ thnt.com

Copyright (c) Home News Tribune

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FILENAME: poisons_hit_home_new_awareness_of_pollution.050410.txt

Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (pg. A01)April 10, 2005

Poisons Hit Home -New Awareness Of Pollution's Reach -

By Alex Nussbaum, Staff Writer

New Jersey's toxic legacy has taken a new turn: Hazardous chemicals are migrating far beyond polluted sites, contaminating the air inside homes and businesses.Fumes -from dry-cleaning fluids, degreasing solvents, gasoline and other chemicals -are rising up through cracks in foundations and seeping into homes around utility pipes. In a state with more than 15,500 known polluted sites, where virtually every community has an old gas station or some other tainted property, the vapors are raising new questions about the risks of living near contamination.

"Indoor air quality is going to be huge over the next year or two," said Robert Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, an environmental group that works with neighbors of contaminated land. "As people move into New Jersey, buy these homes, put their kids into these homes and day- care centers built on toxic plumes, we foresee this as a train wreck that is unavoidable."

In North Jersey, the state has ordered testing in two Fair Lawn neighborhoods where fumes from dry-cleaning chemicals and a gas spill could be seeping into homes.

And in Edgewater, the EPA announced last week that it would sample the air at a child-care center and offices along River Road. An oil recycler that formerly operated there unleashed a plume of hazardous chemicals that has spread underneath the buildings.

Elsewhere in New Jersey, noxious fumes have already turned up inside some properties:

*-Forty-six families were relocated and a public housing complex in Long Branch was demolished last year after tests discovered long-buried contamination leaking vapors into the building. Tenants had complained of headaches, high cancer rates and other ills, though the state Health Department cast doubt on such claims.

*-Low levels of hazardous chemicals were discovered in the air at an Edison day-care center two years ago. The landlord installed a ventilation system - technology that has become common for new buildings in the area to prevent air contamination.

*-The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tested the air inside 250 Wall Township buildings over a massive plume of leaked dry-cleaning fluid -and ordered ventilation systems in 27 homes and businesses in 2001. Officials call it one of the largest indoor air investigations in the history of the Superfund program.

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Similar problems have been discovered around the nation. In Denver, vapors were found inside more than 300 homes near a factory that polluted the groundwater with degreasing chemicals. In upstate New York, environmental officials have found fumes in hundreds of homes near an old IBM plant. The discovery convinced the state to order vapor tests at more than 400 properties around New York, including some already declared clean.

Concerned about the dangers, New Jersey, the federal government and several other states are considering ways to toughen cleanup requirements for toxic sites. New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection may follow New York's lead by examining properties that have already been cleaned up. In the meantime, the DEP says it's reducing the risk by expanding individual cleanups and curtailing some development plans.

"The steps we've taken so far give us the confidence to say this is not a big issue," said Joseph Seebode, an assistant commissioner at the DEP. "There are sites where you could not build over them without addressing indoor air problems. We seek first and always to try to remediate these sites."

A rush to reuse

Not all contaminated sites pose indoor air dangers. But the potential risk is high, environmentalists say, because of New Jersey's rush to clean toxic sites so the property can be used for housing, schools and shops. New Jersey has perhaps 10,000 such "brownfields," the DEP says.

Even property declared clean may pose problems. At almost 900 sites, the DEP has allowed pollutants to be left in the ground after landowners showed the contamination would not affect people or the environment. The chemicals are left to dilute naturally over time. But new research shows hazardous vapors can travel farther than once thought -and with more harmful consequences.

The process experts call "vapor intrusion" begins with contaminated soil or water below the surface. Plumes of tainted groundwater can carry chemicals miles underground, well beyond the boundaries of a polluted property. The compounds evaporate and rise through gaps between soil particles, pool under foundation slabs or in crawl spaces, and seep into buildings through cracks or around utility pipes. Some of the fumes are odorless. Others have a sweet smell that people may become so accustomed to that they stop noticing it.

In many cases, levels inside a building are too low to harm anyone, state officials say. But the fear is that vapors can accumulate over years, and that long-term low-level exposures can be dangerous.

Experts worry most about volatile organic compounds, a class of chemicals that vaporize easily and are common in contaminated sites around the nation. The most widespread are industrial and dry-cleaning solvents such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene. At high levels, the chemicals can cause lung, kidney and liver damage, headaches and dizziness. They may also increase cancer risks.

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Often, levels are tiny, impossible to separate from the stew of fumes from household cleaners, dry-cleaned clothing and other chemicals found in homes. Even where vapors are abundant, they can be removed with ventilation systems, much like those used in homes with radon problems.

But that's little comfort to Fair Lawn residents like Don Borodkin, who's about to learn whether pollutants have been seeping into his home.

"It was a stark realization for me and several other neighbors along the block," said Borodkin, whose Plaza Road home is one of 11 soon to be tested. "The potential for a serious problem is there."

The homes back onto Archery Plaza, a ballfield believed to have been contaminated by the Topps dry-cleaning business, now defunct. Tests have found TCE and tetrachlorethylene in groundwater there.

In January, the DEP wrote to neighbors to say it would test for indoor fumes. A contractor will sample soil near the homes this year. If levels are high enough to create vapor problems, workers will drill holes in Borodkin's basement and check for gases.

Borodkin said he's concerned, but "not hysterical."

"I'm sort of playing middle of the road on this and waiting to see what the numbers are," said Borodkin, 58, an office-products salesman whose parents bought the house in the 1950s. "I grew up here, I played touch football in the field in the 1950s and 1960s. I'm still alive and kicking."

Across town, air tests are slated for three homes along Fourth Street. They sit atop a pool of gasoline-tainted groundwater traced to a nearby school bus depot. State officials say the plume may be emitting MTBE, a fuel additive that causes nausea, nose and throat irritation and neurological problems in people, and cancer in animals.

The concerns go beyond health, said William Dimin, a lawyer representing the homeowners.

"You think about this logically -is anyone going to want to buy a home where there's a contamination problem underground?" he asked.

The plume runs about 20 feet below the basements, said Dave Gurgel, president of Energy for America, the engineering firm leading the cleanup.

"It's so far underground that I don't think the levels will be a problem," he said. "But it's not an exact science. We'll have to see."

In Edgewater, the EPA will begin multiple rounds of air tests this summer at a child-care center and office complex next to a River Road Superfund site. A plume of arsenic, lead and PCBs released by a former tar- processing and oil- recycling business has spread under the neighboring buildings.

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Tests in 2002 found no air problems at the Palisades Child Care Center. But vapor levels can change over time and with the seasons, noted Richard Ho, the EPA project manager for the cleanup at the Quanta Resources site. "We want to go in there and do some more thorough testing," he said.

Tom Hegney, who owns the office complex, said the previous test at the day- care center, combined with years of tests at the Quanta site itself, show the area is safe.

"I wouldn't put anybody there if there was any question," he said.

New awareness

Regulators say they are only now beginning to understand the potential scope of the problem.

"As of two years ago, really no one was looking at vapor intrusion. We just weren't thinking about it," said Jim Moore, an Army Corps of Engineers project manager. He is overseeing the cleanup at the Edison site, the Raritan Center.

The center is a sprawling complex of offices and warehouses built on a former Army base, where used munitions and chemical spills fouled soil and water. After the corps announced two years ago that it would leave some pollution on the site, the owners of one of the new buildings tested the air. In the basement of the Peppermint Tree Nursery School, they found traces of tetrachloroethylene.

The landlord added a ventilation system, and subsequent checks have found no chemicals above government limits, Moore said. The technology, he argued, means vapor intrusion will be only a minor issue for future cleanups.

"I don't think it's a ticking time bomb," he said.

Spiegel and other activists disagree. "Indoor air pollution is a risk, and they don't know enough about it to say how bad a risk it is," Spiegel said. "We're essentially experimenting with the general public by putting homes and schools and day-care centers on these sites."

The growing concerns about vapors follow an August 2001 draft report by the EPA that warned of newly discovered risks from trichloroethylene. It found TCE "highly likely" to cause kidney, liver, cervical and other cancers -at exposures much lower than previously thought safe.

The report recommended tighter federal standards for the chemical, a change that could force costlier cleanups of TCE-tainted properties. But the EPA has yet to strengthen the standards.

Industrial users have challenged the data, as has the Pentagon, which owns many sites with TCE pollution. "They built in every conservative assumption they absolutely could about the chemical in terms of [human] metabolism, in terms of exposure," said Steve Risotto, executive director of the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, which represents TCE makers. "You sort of pile up every conservative assumption, and pretty soon you wind up with an ultraconservative risk analysis."

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Although there are uncertainties, the government needs a stricter federal standard, said Daniel Wartenberg, a TCE researcher at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

"The evidence strongly suggests that there are carcinogenic risks, and that needs to be addressed and addressed aggressively," he said, adding, "If I were moving into a brownfield, I'd want to know more about that: Is it there now? What are the concentrations?"

Assessing risk is difficult, however. New York officials have found that deeply buried pollutants can have an impact even when computer models suggest otherwise, said Maureen Wren, a spokeswoman with New York's Department of Environmental Conservation.

"We are seeing vapor intrusion, albeit at very low levels, in conditions in which the models would have predicted it would not occur," she said.

Meanwhile, the EPA's 2001 analysis recommended setting acceptable levels of TCE so low that most of today's testing equipment would not detect it. Tests also have to separate the fumes of underground contamination from carpet glues, paint removers, construction materials, cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust inside homes.

Tenants sue

State environmental officials have not definitively traced any illnesses to vapor intrusion. In Long Branch, however, former tenants of the Seaview Manor apartments blame toxic fumes for high cancer rates, respiratory ills and developmental problems among children in their Jersey Shore neighborhood. Nearly 400 families have sued New Jersey Natural Gas, which they fault for the contamination

Julia Wheeler, a 72-year-old former tenant, wonders if fumes had anything to do with her 18-year-old daughter's death from lupus, an immune system disorder. Wheeler, head of a citizens group that pushed for a cleanup of the site, said odors around the apartments and a nearby stream got worse about six years ago, after digging began to remove dirt contaminated with benzene and other compounds.

"It smelled like rotten eggs mixed with oil, an awful smell," she said. "You can still smell it."

Part of the complex was built atop land once owned by a gas manufacturing plant that closed in the 1950s. Recent tests found volatile organic compounds and other chemicals in the ground and water -and in vapors in the crawl space below some apartments.

Although chemicals were in the building, the levels were so low that they were unlikely to cause harm, the state Health Department concluded in a 2004 report. Still, heavy rains and floods during testing meant that the samples "may not represent a worst-case scenario," the report added. The department's 2003 review of cancer rates found "little evidence" that exposure had increased the incidence of cancer.

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"The testing to date has found no health concerns related to the property," said Roseanne Koberle, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Natural Gas. Nevertheless, the company agreed to knock down the apartments, remove truckloads of tainted soil -and make way for new housing.

The New Seaview Manor should be finished next year. "Most people who got sense, they ain't gonna go back there," Wheeler said.

Builders have stake

The state plans to issue new guidelines this summer setting limits for concentrations of airborne chemicals.

Developers and those responsible for restoring polluted property are pushing for flexibility, saying they shouldn't be stuck with expensive cleanups at sites where the vapor risk is unproven. Environmentalists argue that vapor intrusion is yet another danger that could fall through the cracks in the zeal to redevelop contaminated land.

Although the DEP defends its record, it admits it hasn't always kept track of all of its cleanups. The department has fewer than 300 case managers for 15,500 contaminated sites, said Seebode, the assistant commissioner.

When the department lets landowners leave toxic chemicals in the ground, it usually relies on owners to certify the property remains safe. But of 92 such sites in Bergen and Passaic counties, the DEP could say only that 13 had filed biannual reports required by law since 1998. At only 37 sites could the department say it had done its own five-year inspections. The rest may or may not have been certified and inspected -the DEP's computer records aren't up-to- date enough to say, Seebode said.

Still, state officials insist they have paid close attention to indoor air quality for the past four years, since the fumes discovered in Wall Township highlighted the risks.

Developers have been forced to remove more contamination, to ensure vapors don't rise to hazardous levels, Seebode said. Ventilation systems have been ordered for schools built on contaminated properties even where dangers haven't been proved, he said.

What about cleanups before 2001? Declaring them safe from hazardous fumes is "a little tougher," said Barry Frasco, the DEP's assistant director of hazardous site science.

But even at older sites, the agency has required groundwater treatment systems, vapor barriers and other steps that should reduce the indoor air risk, Seebode said. "Those things create at least some confidence that this is not a big issue," he argued.

"We've got contamination ... that may affect indoor air," he said, "but that can't prevent us from being able to make smart economic and smart redevelopment decisions."

***

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E-mail: nussbaum@northjersey.com

Caption: 2 -COLOR PHOTO -DANIELLE P. RICHARDS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER -Don Borodkin recently learned his Fair Lawn home may be contaminated. "It was a stark realization," he said.<p></p 4 PHOTOS -BETH BALBIERZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER -3 -A worker cleaning building supplies at the Seaview Manor site, Long Branch. A retaining wall will keep chemicals from entering a nearby brook.<p></p 4 -A soil decontamination tent occupies the spot where Julia Wheeler's apartment once stood. She wonders if pollutants killed her daughter.<p></p 5 -Joe Turpin, who grew up at Seaview Manor, is fighting for a thorough cleanup. Four hundred families are suing over the problems there.<p></p 6 -Robert Spiegel of the Edison Wetlands Association at Raritan Center, built on an old arsenal. Chemical traces were found in a nursery school there. "We're essentially experimenting with the general public by putting homes and schools and day-care centers on these sites," he said.

Copyright (c) 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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FILENAME: epa_chemical_sites_affecting_indoor_air.050411.txt

Press of Atlantic City, The (NJ) (pg. C5)April 11, 2005

Epa: Chemical Sites Affecting Indoor Air

Fumes from long-buried toxic chemicals are finding their way into homes and businesses, forcing the state and federal government to order testing in several areas, according to a published report.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has ordered air quality tests in homes in two neighborhoods in Fair Lawn near the former site of a dry- cleaning business. Earlier tests of the groundwater there showed evidence of the solvents trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene.

A 2001 draft report by the federal Environmental Protection Agency found that TCE was "highly likely" to cause several types of cancer at levels below those previously considered safe.The EPA announced last week it would test the air at a child-care center in Edgewater that is near the former site of an oil recycler.

Last year, a public housing complex in Long Branch was demolished and 46 families were relocated after tests showed chemical vapors leaking into the building. There have been similar discoveries in buildings in Edison and Wall Township in the past four years.

Experts call the process "vapor intrusion," in which tainted groundwater can spread miles underground, beyond the borders of a formerly contaminated site. The chemical compounds gradually evaporate and rise through cracks in building foundations or around utility pipes.

Sometimes the odor is noticeable, but many times it is not. The concern is that long-term exposure to some vapors could be harmful.

"Indoor air quality is going to be huge over the next year or two," Robert Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, told The Sunday Record of Bergen County. "As people move into New Jersey, buy these homes, put their kids into these homes and day-care centers built on toxic plumes, we foresee this as a train wreck that is unavoidable."

Environmentalists say the state's rush to clean up toxic sites to convert the properties for commercial or residential use -so-called "brownfields" development -is part of the problem. New Jersey has about 10,000 of these sites, according to DEP.

DEP is considering toughening cleanup requirements for toxic sites.

"The steps we've taken so far give us the confidence to say this is not a big issue," said DEP assistant commissioner Joseph Seebode. "There are sites where you could not build over them without addressing indoor air problems. We seek first and always to try to remediate these sites."

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Copyright, 2005, South Jersey Publishing Company t/a The Press of Atlantic City

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Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (pg. L03)June 30, 2005

Frustration Runs High At Superfund Site -Edgewater Residents Upset With Epa Cleanup

By Adrienne Lu, Staff Writer

EDGEWATER -Fieldwork to investigate the nature and extent of the contamination at the Quanta Resources Superfund site is set to begin in mid-July, representatives of the federal Environmental Protection Agency said.But that isn't soon enough for many borough residents who are frustrated with the pace of the cleanup. The state shut down the Quanta site in 1981 after polychlorinated biphenyls -PCBs -were found on the River Road property. The EPA oversaw an initial cleanup of the site in the 1980s, but it was not added to the Superfund National Priority List until 2002.

The remedial investigation and feasibility study, in the terminology of the EPA, are expected to last 18 to 24 months. The intent is to determine the risks to human health and the ecology and to identify and evaluate possible solutions.

It is unknown how long the cleanup of the site could take, although some Superfund sites take years to rehabilitate.

The EPA held two information sessions for the public Tuesday, with representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection and Honeywell, a former owner of the property that is primarily responsible for the cleanup.

Mayor Nancy Merse said Wednesday she was extremely disappointed with the meeting.

"They should just get in here and clean it up and then go after who's responsible. It should be done right away," Merse said. "They didn't answer any of the questions. They didn't give us any definite time. I was very frustrated. ... All those people there and nothing's been accomplished in the last 15 years."

Merse has threatened to sue the EPA to get it to move more quickly on the project.

Judging by questions from the audience, residents also are tired of waiting and are worried about potential health impacts.

One woman was the first of several residents to ask essentially the same question. "This has been going on a very long time," she said. "Why now? Why are you just getting to it now?"

John Prince, chief of the central New Jersey remediation section of the EPA, essentially said that he could not answer that question but said local election politics did not play a part, as one resident alleged.

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Prince said the EPA is concerned about contamination of the soils, sediments and groundwater at the Quanta site. Once home to a coal tar plant and various waste oil collection and recycling operations, the site is polluted with contaminants that include arsenic, chromium, lead and coal tar creosote, a thick, oily substance used in roofing and paving that has been classified as a probable human carcinogen.

Regarding the underground creosote plume, Prince said, "One of the key pieces of the study is to understand where it is now."

Other representatives from the EPA said that the Superfund site, the heart of which is surrounded by a chain link fence, poses little risk to the public because residents are not typically exposed to contaminants.

They said that when the EPA did indoor air sampling at a nearby day-care center three years ago, it did not find significant levels of contaminants, although the EPA will repeat those tests to be sure. They also reassured residents that they had no reason to be concerned about their drinking water.

A representative from U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg's office read a letter urging the EPA to move quickly and efficiently. It stated, in part, "The cleanup of the site has clearly proceeded too slow."

***

E-mail: lu@northjersey.com

Copyright (c) 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) (pg. 27) August 2, 2005

This Time, No Words Of Despair -Progress Cited At Wharton Superfund Site

By Paula Saha

Anthony Cinque stood before what used to be one of the most polluted sites in New Jersey -a 14-acre industrial tract in Wharton -and described how in just five months, workers had cleared away 46,000 tons of toxic soil.

"We're essentially done," said Cinque, a project manager for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Those are words Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) and officials in Wharton have been waiting to hear. For more than 15 years, Frelinghuysen has been touring the area's Superfund sites, some of the most polluted properties in the state.

There have been times when he has been frustrated by the lack of progress in cleaning up those areas, he said. "We used to come here and despair," Frelinghuysen said.

But yesterday, he was heartened by what he saw. "I think we've seen more progress this time than any time in the last 15 years," he said.

The 25-year-old Superfund program's goal is to clean up the most hazardous sites in the nation. The agency seeks to track down those responsible for the pollution and force them to pay for the damage.

The Wharton site, once home to a vinyl wall covering manufacturing facility, was proposed for the superfund list 20 years ago, with most of the major excavation taking place over the last year.

Now, Cinque said, the state will set up monitoring wells. In the meantime, the borough of Wharton is moving ahead with plans to knock down an existing warehouse and build a road connecting North Main Street to East Dewey Avenue, said Mayor Bill Chegwidden.

Frelinghuysen also saw a new treatment facility in Denville that's been up and running since June and treats contaminated soils and groundwater in Rockaway Township. In Rockaway Borough, there was construction under way on a similar treatment facility.

In Dover, officials have finally been able to narrow down the source of contamination at an inactive municipal well to a dry cleaning operation off Route 46. The cleaners closed up shop in June, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency is in negotiations to take over the property, said project manager Diego Garcia.

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The property backs up to a residential neighborhood. Garcia said now that the contamination source has been cut off, the pollutants in the well, which has not been used for years, should clear on their own. But there are other concerns in the area, he added.

Outdoor and indoor air testing in 12 homes in the neighborhood revealed the possibility of additional airborne contaminants, Garcia said. In fact, as Frelinghuysen's group stood in the neighborhood, the strong smell of paint wafted through.

Garcia said the EPA was investigating the air concerns further, a move that Frelinghuysen endorsed.

Some of the local officials who accompanied Frelinghuysen on his tour gave the congressman some of the credit for the progress.

"The real value of the inspection is when you have a congressman standing by looking you in the eye," said Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Morris). "No question the attention is beneficial. . . . It's a lovely, subtle form of encouragement."

Rockaway Township Mayor Louis Sceusi agreed. "I think he's kept them aware that he expects something to be done," he said. "He keeps everybody vigilant and helps them move."

Caption: 1. U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, left, looks over a new facility in Denville that treats contaminated groundwater in Rockaway Township. 2. Frelinghuysen prepares to tour five Superfund sites in Morris County.

Copyright 2005 The Star-Ledger

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Herald News (West Paterson, NJ) (pg. C03)December 18, 2005

Neighborhoods Fighting Back -Residents Struggle To Make Concerns Heard

By David Pace, The Associated Press

CAMDEN -Lula Williams doesn't take a whiff of fresh air for granted. Not after living for nearly a quarter-century in front of a sewage treatment plant, around the corner from a factory and down the street from three scrap metal recyclers.And that doesn't include the trash incinerator, the power plant and the cement-grinding factory that have moved into her neighborhood since the early 1990s.

Living in one of America's most factory-polluted areas has turned the 74- year- old woman and her neighbors into activists. But after five years of community protests and citizen lawsuits, the biggest improvement Williams can claim is a few million dollars in equipment to lessen the stench from the sewage plant.

There are still many days when she opens the front door of her row house in Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood and proclaims, "Lord have mercy, you just can't breathe."

Williams' plight, like that of many trapped in dirty factory air, illustrates how difficult it is to free neighborhoods from the legacy of industrial pollution, an Associated Press review found.

"This is a poor, black neighborhood, Hispanic and white," Williams said. "No other city or state that you go to would you find all this in it where residents live."

Williams is now president of South Camden Citizens in Action, a group that has waged a five-year legal battle against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for allowing the giant cement-grinding plant into their neighborhood.

The uphill battle mirrors others in the country:

* In Ponca City, Okla., the Ponca Indian Tribe earlier this year sued Continental Carbon Co., alleging that air pollution from its plant is endangering children and the elderly. The company denies the allegations. The city also has sued Continental, contending that emissions have left the town covered with black soot.

* In suburban Detroit, the cities of Ecorse and River Rouge have filed lawsuits against U.S. Steel Corp., alleging pollution from the company's plants is harming the health of residents and eroding real estate values. A U.S. Steel spokesman says the company has spent millions to correct environmental problems it inherited when it took over the bankrupt plant in 2003.

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* In Madison, Wis., an environmental group has been fighting for more than a year to overturn a state decision permitting a foundry to increase by fivefold the particle emissions from its metal fabricating processes. An administrative law judge ruled this fall the increase didn't violate state air quality standards, but ordered additional monitoring.

Waterfront South is the most polluted neighborhood in Camden, a former industrial center that's home to more than 100 contaminated sites. Abandoned and operating smokestacks dot the city's landscape, spewing out pollutants that force residents to breathe some of the unhealthiest air in the country.

AP's analysis of government data found that seven Camden neighborhoods rank among the top 1 percent in the nation in the long-term health risk posed by industrial air pollution. All seven are majority black and Hispanic.

Melvin R. "Randy" Primas, a former mayor who is now the city's chief operating officer, says Camden residents can't open their windows in the summer because of the odors. "That is why we offered free indoor air filters to all the residents," he said.

Primas, who was mayor when the county's trash-to-steam generator was built in Waterfront South, said local officials are doing all they can to protect residents' health and to revitalize the area without bringing in new pollution.

But he said that Waterfront South residents must understand that "the neighborhood that they are living in is the industrial corridor for Camden. If you look at what has been there for 100 years, it's major industry."

In the past five years, the state Department of Environmental Protection has issued more than 700 permits for air emissions in the city of Camden, ranging from school boilers to a metal alloy manufacturer that annually emits hundreds of pounds of chromium, a cancer-causing metal.

"The DEP has had no qualms about continuing to issue air permits for every facility in Waterfront South, without ever considering whether there is already such a high concentration of industry that it's not safe to put more in," said Olga Pomar, the legal services attorney who filed the lawsuit over the cement plant.

DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell said his agency hasn't issued any emission permits for major new facilities in Waterfront South since 2002. "We've recognized the long-standing environmental neglect of Camden, particularly the Waterfront South area," he said.

Campbell said the agency also has stepped up environmental enforcement and is developing a plan to mitigate the impact of pollution.

In the legal battle over the cement plant, residents won a victory in 2001 when a federal judge ruled they had been victims of racial discrimination. But legal setbacks followed and they now must prove -if the case goes to trial -that the state intentionally discriminated against them. "It's a very hard standard," Pomar said.

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Still, their lawsuit over the sewage treatment plant produced a settlement in 1998 and $5 million in odor controls. And their protests helped persuade the city to reroute many diesel trucks that once clogged their neighborhood.

"You're fighting along, you never stop, but you don't see a huge blinding light at the end of your tunnel," said the Rev. Michael Doyle, a priest for the past 30 years at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waterfront South. "You see little candles."

Copyright, 2005, Herald News (West Paterson, NJ)

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Herald News (West Paterson, NJ) (pg. B06)March 3, 2006

Dep Says Vents Needed To Clear The Air

By Eric Hsu, Special To The Herald News

Environmental regulators have ordered air-venting systems installed in three homes on a street contaminated by pollutants from an old dry- cleaning business, borough officials said Thursday.The contamination is from tetrachloroethylene, a common dry-cleaning solvent that spilled at the former Topps drycleaners on Fair Lawn Avenue. Health experts have warned that exposure to high levels of tetrachloroethylenecan cause headaches and dizziness, lung, kidney and liver damage, and may increase cancer risks.

State officials have known of the contamination since 1993, and have been overseeing a study and cleanup of the area since 2004.

The pollution is heaviest in the soil and groundwater directly under the Topps location, but has spread to the three homes through groundwater.

Officials ordered air quality testing in the homes in 2005. Vapors from contaminated groundwater can enter houses through cracks in the foundation and seams around utility pipes. Officials originally planned to test 11 homes on the west side of Plaza Road, but expanded the tests to include 11 homes on the east side of the street as well.

Based on initial test results, the Department of Environmental Protection has ordered venting systems for three neighboring homes on the west side of the street, spokesman Fred Mumford said.

To vent the fumes, a pump is placed under the homes' foundation and connected to piping and a fan that carries the fouled air outside.

Resident Kathy Moore said tests had only shown pollution in the soil vapors beneath her home -- not in the home itself -- but indicated she is still worried the vapors could find their way inside.

"They're there," Moore said. "The toxins are lurking under the surface."

But Tim Snedecor, who also owns a house on the block, said bad publicity about the contamination has made it difficult for him to sell his home, and he feels the reaction by some residents has been overblown.

Snedecor, who is living in Delaware now, aired his concerns about the contamination recently in an online forum.

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"My home is probably the only home in move-in condition that is still on the market in Fair Lawn after (nine) months..." he wrote.

Concern about "vapor intrusion" has recently become a focus of attention by state and federal regulators. In 2001 and 2002 officials ordered ventilation systems installed in 27 homes and businesses in Monmouth County contaminated by a massive plume of dry-cleaning fluid near Wall Township.

In Fair Lawn, at the source of the Topps pollution, environmental consultants have demolished the former dry-cleaning building and removed three underground storage tanks. Officials are now reviewing plans for installation of a system that could clean up the site in nine months to a year, Mumford said.

He said the DEP planned to focus on the cleanup at Topps, which is being paid for by the former owners, before evaluating the cleanup of groundwater. Mumford also said the DEP would continue to monitor indoor air in the homes on both sides of Plaza Road.

Contact Eric Hsu at hsu@northjersey.com

Copyright, 2006, Herald News (West Paterson, NJ)

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FILENAME: fair_lawn_homes_to_be_vented_pollutants_in.060303.txt

Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (pg. L02)March 3, 2006

Fair Lawn Homes To Be Vented -Pollutants In Soil Spread To Water

By Eric Hsu, Staff Writer

FAIR LAWN -- Environmental regulators have ordered air-venting systems installed in three homes on a street contaminated by pollutants from an old dry-cleaning business, officials said Thursday.The contamination is from tetrachloroethylene, a common dry-cleaning solvent, spilled at the former Topps dry cleaners on Fair Lawn Avenue. Health experts warn that exposure to high levels of tetrachloroethylene can cause headaches and dizziness and lung, kidney and liver damage, and may increase cancer risks.

State officials have known of the contamination since 1993, and have been overseeing a study and cleanup of the area since 2004.

The pollution is heaviest in the soil and groundwater directly under Topps, but has spread to the homes through groundwater.

Officials ordered air-quality testing in the homes in 2005. Vapors from contaminated groundwater can enter homes through cracks in the foundation and seams around utility pipes.

Officials originally planned to test 11 homes on the west side of Plaza Road, but expanded the tests to include 11 homes on the east side of the street as well.

Based on initial test results, venting systems were ordered for three neighboring homes on the west side of the street, said state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Fred Mumford.

To vent the fumes, a pump is placed under each home's foundation and connected to piping and a fan that carries the fouled air outside.

Resident Kathy Moore said tests had shown pollution only in the soil vapors beneath her home -- not in the home itself -- but said she still worried the vapors could find their way inside.

"They're there," Moore said. "The toxins are lurking under the surface."

But Tim Snedecor, who also owns a house on the block, said bad publicity about the contamination has made it hard for him to sell his home, and that he feels the reaction by some residents has been overblown.

Snedecor, who is living in Delaware now, aired his concerns recently in an online forum.

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"My home is probably the only home in move-in condition that is still on the market in Fair Lawn after nine months," he wrote.

Concern about "vapor intrusion" has recently become a focus of attention by state and federal regulators. In 2001 and 2002, officials ordered ventilation systems installed in 27 homes and businesses contaminated by a massive plume of dry-cleaning fluid near Wall Township in Monmouth County.

In Fair Lawn, at the source of the Topps pollution, environmental consultants have demolished the former dry-cleaning building and removed three underground storage tanks. Officials are now reviewing plans for installation of a cleaning system that could clean up the site in nine months to a year, Mumford said.

He said the department planned to focus on the cleanup at Topps, which is being paid for by the former owners, before evaluating the cleanup of groundwater. He said the department would continue to monitor indoor air in the homes on both sides of Plaza Road.

* *

E-mail: hsu@northjersey.com

Copyright (c) 2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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Herald News (West Paterson, NJ) (pg. B06)March 28, 2006

Schools Lauded For Asthma Management -Education, Controlling Environment Key

By Walter Dawkins, Special To The Herald News

Some K-8 pupils with asthma have been breathing a little easier, thanks to nearly two dozen schools in North Jersey. Beginning today, schools in Little Falls, New Milford, Northvale, Oradell, Old Tappan, Saddle Brook, Morris Hills and elsewhere will receive the first Asthma Friendly School Awards, which recognize efforts to minimize the effects of this chronic disease.

The award is given to schools that have successfully completed "Six Steps for Success," including asthma prevention training for nurses, teachers and parents distributing tips to identify mold, dust and other asthma triggers and enforcing a three-minute idling rule on buses to limit exhaust fumes.

"Asthma is the leading chronic illness in children all over the country," said Dr. Arthur Torre, co-chairman of the Pediatric/Adult Asthma Coalition of New Jersey, which is co-sponsoring the awards with the American Lung Association.

Roughly 13 percent to 14 percent of children have asthma, a rate that can reach 20 percent in the inner city, Torre noted.

"And if you don't treat asthma appropriately in the first couple of years, it actually gives you scars and permanent changes in your lungs," he said.

"So it's very important to catch it early in kids and to make sure it's managed."

School is one of the most effective battlefronts against the disease, said Larainne Koehler, the Environmental Protection Agency's indoor air coordinator for the New York metropolitan area.

"It's important to deal with their environmental triggers wherever they are," Koehler said. "If you just deal with them in the home, you're missing a place where they spend a large part of their day."

Kathy Scala, a school nurse and health teacher and River Vale's Holdrum Middle School, one of the award winners, said, "It's all about communication and getting the teacher, parents, physicians and nurses involved."

* *

Reach Walter Dawkins at : dawkins@northjersey.com

Copyright, 2006, Herald News (West Paterson, NJ)

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Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (pg. L02)May 7, 2006

30 Buildings To Be Tested For Chemicals

AU By Jan Barry

MORRISTOWN -- Some 30 buildings near a former dry cleaning business are to be tested by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency for possible chemical fumes, after groundwater beneath the buildings was found to be contaminated by dry cleaning chemicals."We have initiated an assessment of facilities where vapors from volatile chemicals could be entering homes or workplaces," EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg said Friday. "The good news is once we identify the problem, it's relatively straightforward to fix. We can install ventilation systems when necessary to get rid of trapped fumes."

Dry cleaners use chemicals including tetrachloroethylene, which studies have found may cause cancer and other illnesses. In November, the EPA confirmed that these chemicals were in groundwater under the former VIP Cleaners at 89 Morris St. Monitoring equipment is to be installed in nine residential buildings and 21 commercial buildings to measure gases in soil and sample indoor air in the former dry cleaning facility.

Copyright (c) 2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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Daily Record (Morristown, NJ) (pg. NEWS02)May 22, 2006

Dep Report: Allow Lower Groundwater Quality Limits

By Todd B. Bates Gannett New Jersey

State officials are considering allowing up to 10 times the accepted levels of contaminants in groundwater in some pollution cases if human and ecological health are not at risk, according to a draft document.Such variances may be issued only at sites where contaminant levels are not decreasing, according to draft guidance by Department of Environmental Protection officials.

But a water expert at the New Jersey Institute of Technology questioned the guidance, which would apply to areas that are not currently used as sources of drinking water.

"Population is growing and these contaminants don't degrade very quickly," said Taha Marhaba, associate professor and acting director of the New Jersey Applied Water Research Center at NJIT in Newark. "So why be lenient on some of these" limits?

"One should not allow contamination issues to remain in such areas that may be a source of drinking water in the near future," Marhaba said in an e-mail.

DEP spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said "the DEP will not comment. It's a ... draft report for discussion purposes."

The internal document -- titled "Guidance for the Management of Low-Level Groundwater Contamination Cases"--may represent a DEP effort to deal with some of the thousands of known contaminated sites in New Jersey. As of April 2005, New Jersey had about 13,700 such sites, according to the DEP Web site.

At many sites, data indicate that groundwater is contaminated at levels that violate state groundwater quality standards "but is not posing a threat to human or other ecological receptors," the draft guidance says.

Receptors include drinking water wells, well protection areas, surface water and indoor air.

Not a new idea

"The long-term management of cases with groundwater contamination that does not represent a current risk to public health or other ecological receptors is not new to the department," according to the draft.

In these cases, the DEP creates Classification Exception Areas, or CEAs, which have been established throughout the state.

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These areas do not meet groundwater standards because of pollution, a permitted discharge or other reasons, and "designated aquifer uses are suspended in the affected area"while a CEA is in effect, according to the DEP Web site.

The draft guidance would apply only to sites where all sources of groundwater contamination have been identified and cleaned up.

The guidance would cover sites with groundwater contaminants at concentrations no greater than 10 times current standards, up to 1,000 parts per billion for individual organic compounds or up to 10,000 ppb for total organic compounds.

While limits for toxic metals such as arsenic, chromium, lead and mercury could rise tenfold, the limit for methyl tertiary butyl ether, a long-time gasoline additive, could increase only twofold because of its "very high mobility."

Asked how many contaminated sites or groundwater areas could be affected by the guidance, DEP spokesman Fred Mumford said in an earlier interview that "it's premature to discuss any implications as ... this draft has not even been proposed."

He declined to comment when asked if the guidance would violate the DEP's groundwater and cleanup requirements.

"Clean water is very scarce now, especially in New Jersey where we have groundwater depletion all over," NJIT's Marhaba said. "I believe that the state should be consistent in the way that they're developing these criteria."

But it's good that the information is now on paper, and it's " somewhat more uniform than before ... so that's the positive thing about this," Marhaba said.

Copyright (c) Daily Record

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Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ) (pg. 01A)June 28, 2006

Dep Seeks Source Of Benzene Pollution

By Jean Mikle/toms River Bureau

State officials have discovered that at least 15 irrigation wells in a northwestern neighborhood are contaminated with high levels of benzene, a human carcinogen.But where the pollution comes from, and what its potential health effects are, the researchers have yet to determine. Those were the key questions asked by several residents who attended a special meeting Tuesday night held at town hall by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"I am concerned about people who are continuing to use their well," Fiddlers Run resident Mindy Jonkoski said.

Jonkoski's irrigation well tested positive for benzene, a volatile organic contaminant that is a component of gasoline. She has stopped using the well but said she is worried because some residents continue to irrigate with polluted wells.

"When will they determine the health risk?" asked Theresa Deoliveira, who also lives on Fiddlers Run. She doesn't have an irrigation well or a sprinkler system, but said she is worried about possible health effects from nearby polluted wells.

Two potable wells in the area -- one on Ronda Road in Dover, and another on Locust Street in Lakewood -- were found to contain benzene at levels far above the state drinking water standard of 1 part per billion. The Ronda Road well contained 125 ppb of benzene and 5.5 ppb of 1,2- dichloroethane, which is used to make plastic products but is also added to leaded gasoline to remove lead.

The drinking water standard for 1,2-dichloroethane is 2 ppb.

The Locust Street well had 124 ppb of benzene in an initial test, and 75.4 ppb in a subsequent test. Filtration systems were installed on both potable wells, with the state's Spill Compensation Fund paying for the installation.

Irrigation wells are a different story. There are no state standards for contaminants in irrigation wells.

Testing of irrigation wells was conducted in the North Maple Avenue area of Dover on April 27 and 28, and 15 of the 36 wells tested were found to be polluted with benzene and 1,2-dichloroeth-ane.

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Levels of up to 1,086 ppb of benzene and up to 46 ppb of 1,2-dichloroeth- ane were found. In May, the DEP returned to the neighborhood and took indoor air samples at 17 homes, with researchers also drilling into the slabs under the homes to determine the potential for benzene to enter the indoor air.

The results of the air sampling are still being analyzed, said Ron Poutschi of the DEP's Bureau of Environmental Evaluation & Risk Assessment.

The DEP is studying the potential risk of exposure to polluted irrigation wells, research that is expected to take several weeks to complete.

Ed Putnam, assistant director of the DEP's Site Remediation & Waste Management Program, said the department will look at a number of potential areas of exposure to the benzene, including inhalation during sprinkling or running through a sprinkler to cool off; consuming vegetables that have been watered with polluted well water, and absorption through the skin by wading or swimming in a pool that was filled using a sprinkler system.

Putnam noted the DEP had sent letters to 22 homeowners on Fiddlers Run and Donna Dee Court, recommending that they not use their irrigation wells. The letters went to the 15 homeowners with contaminated wells, along with their immediate neighbors.

"Based on the simple logic that the water is contaminated, it's best not to use it," Putnam said. He stressed that the levels of pollutants in the irrigation wells do not present an immediate health risk. The risk assessment study is meant to determine if they present a long-term risk.

DEP officials have identified several potential sources of the pollution, including businesses located near the intersection of Routes 9 and 70. William Lowry, bureau chief of the Bureau of Environmental Measurement & Site Assessment, declined to name the businesses, since the DEP has not yet undertaken the more extensive testing necessary to determine the source.

He said state officials will return to the neighborhood July 17 for three more weeks of extensive testing that will help researchers delineate the extent of the pollution plume and help give a better idea of potential source areas.

Copyright (c) Asbury Park Press

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Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) (pg. 31)July 9, 2006

Fumes In Home Fuel Fear, Confusion -Roxbury Couple Sees System Failing Them

By John Wihbey

Several months pregnant and fearing the gasoline fumes, Maria Sanguino finally fled her Roxbury Township home in April.

It was not an impulsive decision. In 2003, she and her husband, Anthony, started noticing that the well water in their recently purchased home - the young couple's first -smelled of fuel.

They suspected the source was the adjacent gas station, Bain's Automotive, formerly an Exxon station and now a Citgo on Route 10 in Succasunna.

"We bought the house and decided to start a family," Maria Sanguino, 32, said. "But it's been a nightmare for three years."

That nightmare has only gotten more complicated over time, as the legal and regulatory system has failed to help, the Sanguinos say. It has also drawn a small business owner and local residents into a swirl of national environmental problems beyond their control.

After smelling fumes in spring 2003, the couple called the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Authorities confirmed that methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, along with other carcinogens such as benzene, had contaminated the home, according to DEP spokeswoman Elaine Makatura. Last year, the state banned the controversial additive as of 2009.

The Sanguinos believe there was a leak in an underground tank, and their attorney, Stuart Lieberman, says the tank leaked 400 gallons of fuel.

Within weeks, the Sanguinos' home was connected to the township water supply - with the gas station's assistance -and their private well was shut down.

George Bain, the station's owner, launched an effort in 2004 to have the property cleaned up. A 36-year-old business, the station has employed three generations of his family, he said.

"I ran out of money. I spent $1 million. But that's all the insurance company gave me and then they said, `That's it,'" Bain said. He declined further comment because of a lawsuit filed by the Sanguinos.

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The Sanguinos say Bain's cleanup has done little to help their situation. And the township has not helped, they said.

Roxbury Township municipal attorney Anthony Bucco said the case is a dispute between a private company and a property owner. Still, he said, "The town is monitoring it just to make sure what should be done gets done."

But the couple's problems don't seem to end.

This year, a cleanup contractor began trying to pump the contamination and burn it off. The couple began smelling fumes in their ranch-style home, said Anthony Sanguino, a 34-year-old information technology specialist.

"They flipped a switch and basically gassed us out of our home," he said. "We're deadly afraid that the baby will be sick."

They left their home to stay with relatives in Parsippany, where they continue to do battle. With few state laws on the books relating to air quality in homes, the Sanguinos have had trouble getting officials to take action, Anthony Sanguino said.

New Jersey has done little to deal with the problem of "vapor intrusion" and regulate indoor air standards, according to state Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel.

"We breathed that stuff for three years," Anthony Sanguino said during an interview at his West Street home. "We bathed in it. We showered in it."

Monitoring of the home's air and the water is being done, a process mandated by the DEP.

The Sanguinos, though, face other perplexing problems.

Because the gasoline additive MTBE is at issue in the 2005 lawsuit they filed, the case has ended up in U.S. District Court in New York, thrown in with large lawsuits, according to Lieberman.

He said Exxon, which is named as a co-defendant in the suit, has played an "appalling" game of hardball, moving venues and delaying for a year now.

But ExxonMobil spokeswoman Prem Nair said her company has had "no business relationship" with Bain's Automotive since 2000, when it sold its marketing interest in Bain's to Tosco, predecessor to ConocoPhillips.

In any case, the Sanguinos remain in legal limbo, even as they expect their first child in October.

Most state gas stations have already switched to using gasoline mixed with ethanol because MTBE carries such legal risks, according to Jim Benton of the New Jersey Petroleum Council.

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Tittel said contamination by quick-spreading MTBE has been a problem for hundreds of homes in the state.

A 2000 DEP study found that 187 million gallons of MTBE were circulating annually through underground tanks in New Jersey, noting that the chemical takes longer to degrade than other additives.

Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R-Morris), who sponsored a bill to ban MTBE, says that MTBE use results from an ill-advised national strategy to make the air cleaner. Now, he said, "It's obvious that it was not an appropriate additive."

In 1990, Congress demanded that companies add chemicals to gasoline to cut air pollution, prompting a massive increase in their use of MTBE, a cheap additive. Now, it will cost an estimated $29 billion in water contamination cleanup costs.

Bain laments that MTBE ever flowed through his pumps. The government endorsed it, he said, and now small business owners like himself have to pay the cost.

So do the Sanguinos.

"We had a suspicion that the house was contaminated before we bought it," Anthony Sanguino said. "But we had the water tested three times and it came up clean . . . We said, `Let's give it a go.'"

Caption: 1. Maria and Anthony Sanguino say gasoline fumes that they believe originate from a nearby Citgo station have made their home unlivable. They and the owner of the station have been drawn into the national debate over the gasoline additive MTBE.

Copyright 2006 The Star-Ledger

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Daily Record (Morristown, NJ) (pg. UPDATES01)August 16, 2006

Asthma Spikes When Kids Go Back To School

By Erin Kelly Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON -- For millions of American children with asthma, the start of the school year can bring a rise in severe attacks and frantic trips to the emergency room.More than six times as many asthmatic children of elementary school age are admitted to the hospital in early fall than during the hot, smoggy days of summer, according to studies done by scientists in the United States and Canada.

"Researchers speculate that it has to do with kids getting together in small indoor spaces again and passing around viruses," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. "Getting a respiratory virus such as the flu or a cold can trigger an asthma attack."

Indoor air pollution ranging from mold growing on ceiling tiles to fur shedding off the class hamster also can cause attacks. Even the fumes from strong cleansers used by janitors can pose a threat.

"Then there's the problem of the diesel-powered school bus sitting out front with its motor running," Edelman said.

Making matters worse, many parents send their kids back to school without giving teachers and school officials the information and medication they need to help their children prevent a potentially deadly attack.

The lung association recommends that parents sit down with their child's doctor and write up an "asthma action plan" that informs school staff about a student's asthma symptoms, daily medications, and limits on physical activity.

"We don't want children to end up having a crisis at school -- especially when it can be prevented," Edelman said.

Amalie Helms of Flint, Mich., has already been in touch with the pre- school teacher and school nurse who will help care for her 4-year-old twin boys when they start school this fall. Connor and Phelan have severe asthma.

"I let their classroom teacher know that one of the things that can bring on asthmatic attacks for my guys are perfumes and hair sprays," said Helms, a 35- year-old single mother. "They can literally be allergic to their teachers."

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Patricia Sardinha of Juno Beach, Fla., said her 9-year-old daughter Emily's asthma attacks have been triggered by the stress of returning to school or taking a big test. She enlists the school nurse's help.

"I bring the nurse flowers at the beginning of the school year and line up all my daughter's prescription medications on her desk and we have a meeting," Sardinha said. "She knows what to do if Emily has trouble."

But Helms said she believes some parents are reluctant to talk to school officials about their child's asthma because sufferers often are unfairly stigmatized as weaklings who can't play sports or run around at recess with the other kids.

"When kids see TV shows like 'Jimmy Neutron,' they see the asthmatic friend portrayed as a fat, nerdy kid with an inhaler," Helms said. "Teachers and coaches need to understand that, if asthma is controlled, these kids can do anything."

----

----

On the Web:

www.lungusa.org, American Lung Association.

Contact Erin Kelly at ekelly@gns.gannett.com.

Tips for parents of asthmatic children

Here are some back-to-school tips from the American Lung Association: -- Make sure your child has a medical checkup before school begins. -- Be aware of what triggers your child's asthma attacks, and work with the teacher to keep him or her away from them. Triggers may include exercise, smoke, pollen, dust, outdoor air pollution, animal fur, stress, colds and flu. -- If your child is coughing or waking up at night, it may be a sign that asthma is not under control. Work with your child's doctor to adjust the medication or make other changes. -- Meet with your child's doctor to come up with a written asthma action plan that you can share with your child's teachers, coaches, school principal and school nurse. The plan should include details about your child's asthma symptoms, daily medications and inhaler use, any limitations on physical activity and instructions on what to do if an asthma attack occurs. -- Schedule a flu shot for your child for September or early Octobe! r. Flu can trigger asthma attacks, so it's important to prevent your child from catching the virus. -- Help school officials identify and eliminate some of the things that may be causing asthma attacks in students. -- -- On the Web: www.lungusa.org, American Lung Association.

Copyright (c) Daily Record

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The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) (pg. A1)August 18, 2006

TAINTED SITES ERASED IN A BLINK

1,800 Cut From DEP List With No Notice

By Jeff Pillets, Trenton Bureau

Engineers say the old Kingsland Landfill in Lyndhurst harbors a stew of industrial and household waste, a toxic goop that accumulated uring a half- century of unregulated dumping.But the Meadowlands dump -- and nearly 300 other of the most polluted properties in Bergen and Passaic counties -- were quietly removed from New Jersey's official contaminated site list last year.

Statewide, more than 1,800 sites vanished from the watch list in 2005 without any public notice from the keeper of the list, the Department of Environmental Protection. Contaminated chemical plants, leaky gas stations, airports with tainted groundwater -- all stricken from the list even though they have not been cleaned or contained.

"In all my years, I've never seen a government act this irresponsibly," said Jeff Tittel, head of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "It's way more than outrageous. It's dangerous."

Tittel and other watchdogs are now calling for a criminal investigation into the state's handling of the contaminated-site information. They say innocent people buying land on or near one of the tainted properties were put at risk by negligent state regulators who withheld basic data.

As a chilling case in point, they point to the Kiddie Kollege, a day- care center in Gloucester County. The facility closed last month when elevated levels of mercury were found in the ground, the air and bodies of about one-third of 60 students and staffers.

Kiddie Kollege, it turns out, had been the site of a thermometer factory that was taken off the state's contaminated site list last year. The school's owner said he never knew about the mercury.

"Kids' skin was literally starting to peel," said Bill Wolfe, a former DEP executive who is now director of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "How can a thermometer plant with known contamination be taken off a watch list?"

The answer to that question remains a mystery.

DEP officials -- who hurriedly re-posted the list on the agency's Web site this week as the Kiddie Kollege controversy grew -- said Thursday that they had no idea how the sites were removed or who removed them.

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But they rejected the notion that the agency ever certified the sites as clean or lost track of them in their internal files.

"Just because some sites were not posted for a period does not mean we weren't keeping track of them or continuing to clean them up," said Bill Corcory, an official in the agency's Site Remediation Office.

Corcory said his office keeps data on about 14,000 sites known or suspected to be contaminated statewide. The 1,846 contaminated properties re-posted by the DEP this week are only part of that larger pool, Corcory said.

"If someone is concerned a piece of property might be contaminated, they should just pick up the phone and ask us," he said.

Leading environmentalists claim the answer to the mystery of the vanished sites lies with former DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who led the agency from 2002 until the end of last year.

Campbell, according to longtime detractors like Tittel and Wolfe, personally ordered the hazardous list slashed to pare down the embarrassing backlog of sites the agency had failed to clean up. They also assert that Campbell consistently worked to expedite approvals for influential developers who underwrote the political career of his boss, former Gov. James E. McGreevey.

While Campbell instituted several key reforms, such as the historic Highlands Protection Act, he also blessed controversial development projects in brownfields from Camden to the Meadowlands.

"The name of the game for Campbell was letting rich sponsors of Jim McGreevey build on tainted land," said Tittel. "Taking contaminated sites off the books makes more land available for the developers. But it doesn't leave the public any safer."

Campbell bristled at the notion that his DEP gave preferential treatment to rich builders, and said he never faced political pressure from McGreevey or his backers. He said he was surprised to learn that the agency de-listed nearly 1,900 sites, and insists he would not have approved the removal of any tainted sites from DEP scrutiny.

But the former commissioner acknowledged Thursday that he was "deeply frustrated with the unacceptable number" of cases building up in the agency's files. He said there were literally dozens of sites with suspected contamination that the agency was never even able to investigate, let alone clean up.

The DEP's professional staff was so overwhelmed, he said, that it was impossible to even pinpoint the number of contaminated sites and accurately chart the agency's progress in dealing with them.

"The fact is that there was a hodgepodge of hazardous site lists, a jumble of information that made it impossible to get hold of what was out there," Campbell said in an interview Thursday. "I was constantly frustrated in my efforts to get control of the backlog and manage the program."

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Campbell said he ordered staffers to reevaluate the lists, but in an effort to clarify them, not reduce the number of polluted sites. If the agency's staff misunderstood his directions to reevaluate the case log of polluted sites, Campbell said, it would be easy to see why.

"These people were overworked and had been overworked for years because the program was perennially understaffed," said Campbell, who now works at a law firm led by McGreevey's former attorney general, David Samson. "I don't think anybody deliberately removed sites that were known to be bad."

The state Attorney General's Office is now looking into the events leading up to the closing of Kiddie Kollege. Although high levels of mercury found in staffers and students at the facility have fallen, parents are concerned about possible long-term effects of the exposure.

Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Governor Corzine, said the governor will do everything he can to prevent a similar incident.

"If the previous administration placed children and the people of New Jersey in any jeopardy, it's a matter of highest priority for us to set things straight," he said.

***

On the Web

For the full list of known contaminated sites in New Jersey, visit nj.gov/dep/srp/kcs-nj/

***

Copyright (c) 2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) (pg. 21), August 27, 2006

DEP LAPSE POINTS TO A BULGING CASELOAD

Some Toxic Sites Sit On Fix-it List For Years

By Alexander Lane

As the state's environmental agency struggled to explain in recent days how a South Jersey day care center was allowed to open in a building long known to be contaminated with mercury, regulators and activists said it boils down to this: The agency is overwhelmed.

New Jersey has some 16,000 known contaminated sites, more than any other state. The task of overseeing them falls to 175 case managers at the Department of Environmental Protection, burdened with an average of 91 sites each.

That's far too many, current and former case managers and other officials said.

"There are sites that languish on bureaucratic lists and await attention for years," said former DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who was in charge of the department from 2002 until early this year.

One former DEP case manager, Thomas McKee, recalled having close to 100 cases assigned to him for supervision in the early 1990s. A dysfunctional bureaucracy further hampered his work, he said.

"Deadlines for cleanup progress are not enforced; there is no priority system and no real tracking and reporting system," said McKee, who is now an environmental activist. "There are a lot of cases that just get lost in the shuffle."

DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said the day care debacle was not entirely the agency's fault. But she said the DEP had serious problems tracking, prioritizing and enforcing cleanups, and she is pushing for regulatory and legislative changes that could help.

"We have a major programmatic concern that needs to be addressed," Jackson said. "We are working on that, but obviously you're not going to get there overnight."

The day care center, Kiddie Kollege in Gloucester County's Franklin Township, operated for two years in a former thermometer factory that the DEP knew since at least 1994 was contaminated with mercury. A potent neurotoxin, mercury impairs thinking and learning, especially in children.

On July 28, state-ordered tests revealed mercury vapor concentrations in child- occupied rooms of 7 and 8 micrograms per cubic meter, far above regulatory limits of .2 to .3. Levels in the basement reached 42, the DEP said.

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The center was immediately closed, but a lawyer for a dozen families with 3-and 4-year-olds at the center said some children were testing at levels double what is safe in adults. The parents of one child filed a lawsuit last week, and lawyers for other parents said they are considering similar legal action.

The building that housed the day care center, formerly known as Accutherm, was among 1,846 sites that languished on the DEP's Known Contaminated Sites List -- in some cases for years -- without being assigned to a case manager. They went unassigned because they were not known to be a threat to public health or because they were abandoned, said Irene Kropp, the DEP's assistant commissioner in charge of contaminated sites.

Moreover, case managers were simply too busy dealing with sites that were known to be immediate threats or were flagged for review because they were part of a real estate transaction, Kropp said.

Because the 1,846 sites had not been assigned case managers, they were dropped from the list in 2004 and 2005, although they were still being tracked in other databases, DEP officials said. But by the time the day care center was purged from the list in late 2005, it had been open for nearly two years.

Even if the sites had been assigned to a case manager, there is no guarantee they would have been reviewed regularly, DEP officials said.

"If you're a case manager and you have 125 cases on your plate, you clearly are not clearing out 125 cases in a month," Kropp said. "They try to get to the ones that are the highest priorities."

The state Attorney General's Office is investigating how the day care center was allowed to open. And on Friday, Gov. Jon Corzine called for the Department of Children and Families to develop new regulations ensuring that child care centers are not built on polluted sites.

SITES LINGER FOR YEARS

Of the state's 16,000 or so known contaminated sites, at least 6,461 are more than 5 years old. Another 200 to 300 sites are added every month, Jackson said.

One former chemical company site in South Brunswick has been identified as contaminated since 1981 and has not been cleaned up. The same goes for a radium company in Orange, identified by the DEP as a contaminated site in 1984. A metal finishing company site in Bound Brook has been contaminated since 1985 and is still an active case.

Cases that call into question the department's management of contaminated sites regularly capture the public spotlight. In 2003, a federal judge appointed an independent special master to oversee the cleanup of a chromium-contaminated site in Jersey City, saying years of DEP supervision had failed to protect public health.

The DEP's site remediation department attracted criticism earlier this year when it was discovered that debris from the former Ford plant in Edison -- a known contaminated site that has been

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assigned to a case manager since at least 2002 but remains contaminated -- was used at several residential and commercial construction sites around the state.

A large workload is not the only obstacle case managers face. Two laws passed in the 1990s restricted their ability to dictate cleanup methods, instead empowering the companies responsible for the contaminated sites to do so. Case managers can, however, reject cleanup proposals they deem inadequate.

This dynamic often forces case managers into an "endless loop" of "negotiation and jawboning" with polluters, Campbell said.

Kropp said a new regulation set to take effect next month was designed to curb that pattern. It gives cleanup companies two chances to send in an acceptable proposal, then allows for penalties if they do not get it right the second time.

Former DEP staff member and environmental activist Bill Wolfe said the new regulation was not stringent enough, and fell far short of the "culture change" necessary at the DEP.

Hal Bozarth, a lobbyist for the New Jersey Chemistry Council, which represents many companies with contaminated sites, said the Kiddie Kollege was an isolated incident that highlighted the need for better management at the DEP, not new laws or regulations.

PRESSURE OF POLITICS

One current case manager, Amil Singh, said heavy caseloads account for the notoriously low morale in the site remediation department. But he also said the department was plagued by a less tangible problem: political pressure.

It is particularly intense when a redevelopment project or real estate transaction at a contaminated site is being held up pending a "no further action" letter -- a certification that a cleanup is complete -- from the department, he said.

"There's a lot of pressure on the case managers to take certain actions in order to appease the local governments and make property move," Singh said. "I've been pressured to produce NFAs (no further action letters) by my own management."

As examples, he cited landfills in Jersey City and Newark, where he said pressure from politically connected developers flowed through superiors to him to clear the sites for development before it was warranted.

"That is a real problem for the lowly case manager who has to deal with the technical issues," he said.

Singh, who was not authorized to speak to the press but said he was doing so because it was in the public interest, said the political pressure appears to have eased at least somewhat under Jackson, who rose through the ranks as a longtime staff member of the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Alexander Lane covers the environment. He may be reached at alane@starledger.com or (973) 392-1790.

Copyright 2006 The Star-Ledger

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New York TimesSeptember 1, 2006

MEMO SHOWS AGENCY KNEW OF DANGER IN CHILD CARE BUILDING

By Tina Kelley

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection knew in 1994 that a building that later housed a Gloucester County day care center was so dangerous that state inspectors were instructed to use respirators when entering the building, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times yesterday.

But the site remained contaminated, and as far as the department knew, unoccupied, until inspectors visited it in April and found that Kiddie Kollege, a day care center serving children as young as 8 months old, was operating in the building. Yet the center, which is in Franklin Township, was allowed to remain open for more than three months, until state environmental investigators determined in late July that the site was still contaminated.On July 28, when state tests showed mercury vapor levels at least 27 times the regulatory limit, the center voluntarily closed. It had served at least 60 children on the site for the past two years. One-third of those children showed elevated levels of mercury in their systems, and will require continued medical monitoring.

The internal memo, dated Oct. 12, 1994, said "Level C at a minimum is required for entry into the building," meaning respirators were required, said Bill Wolfe, a former department employee who is the director of New Jersey Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group that provided a copy of the memo.

Darlene Yuhas, a Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman, said she could not confirm that the memo, a copy of which was faxed to her, came from the department, but Mr. Wolfe said it was obtained from the department's files through an open public records request he had filed.

As for the memo, Ron Corcory, the assistant director of the department's site remediation program, said, "For people to sit back and say, 'Should they have known in April?' the analogy is, for the 16,000 sites, we should close every building and then start an investigation. That's not the reality."

But Mr. Wolfe said that the department should have at least notified the center's operators about the building's potential dangers.

"Why didn't somebody have the common sense to pick up the phone and call the operator of the facility and say, 'Look, we have a reasonable concern?' " he asked. "That's part of the culture of the program that needs to be reformed."

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Irene Kropp, the assistant commissioner for site remediation and waste management, replied, "We did not internally know of any risks at that time, so we didn't have any discussion about notifying the parents."

The department has sent 100 inspectors to investigate 1,846 contaminated sites that had not been assigned case managers, work that should be completed in a week.

Of the state's 4,200 day care centers, the department is investigating about 700, those that are within 400 feet of contaminated sites. The state is notifying all day care centers to talk to their local health departments or an environmental consultant about possible nearby environmental hazards, and reviewing pending applications for day care licenses for environmental concerns.

This week the Department of Environmental Protection received a signed agreement from the Gloucester County building's owner, Jim Sullivan Inc., regarding how and when the site will be cleaned up. But the agreement, an administrative consent order, will not be made public until the department signs it, Ms. Yuhas said.

In 1995 the department ordered the former owner, Accutherm Inc. of Williamsburg, Va., a maker of mercury thermometers, to clean up the site, but the company had filed for bankruptcy protection and the department never enforced the order.

On Tuesday, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg requested that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitor all children and adults who were exposed to mercury in the building, not just those 20 out of 60 children who showed abnormally high levels of mercury in their systems. He also asked the Environmental Protection Agency to test the homes of former Kiddie Kollege children for the presence of mercury.

The Department of Children and Families, which will develop the new rules, has posted the list of all licensed child care centers on its Web site, and the Department of Environmental Protection has a list of its 16,000 known contaminated sites on its Web site. Those lists are being cross-checked by the two agencies, said Tom Bell, a spokesman for the Children and Families Department.

Copyright (c) 2006 The New York Times Company

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